Death and Ker
by Rayless Night
Summary: January, the start of a new year. The start of turbulence in the Great Seal. Of renewed Shadow activity. Of the reconvening of SEES. And the time Death again walks the streets of Port Island.
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note:**__ This story is based on the best ending of _Persona 3: Portable_, following the female MC's story path. It includes material from _Persona 3: FES, _usually small details I felt should have been kept in P3P. In this fanfic's backstory, _The Answer _didn't play out exactly the same way it did in-game. But a similar storyline did occur, which will be explained as this fanfic progresses._

_This story draws on the best ending of _Persona 4_ as well. It's a crossover, however ninety-nine percent of the story is from the P3 characters' perspectives. For the most part, the P4 characters only indirectly affect the story._

_About Death: The SMT wiki describes Thanatos as a normal Persona whose appearance reflects the true Death. This fanfic treats Thanatos, Pharos, Ryoji and the Nyx Avatar as different facets of Death; they're all the same being. _

_There's also a fair bit of Greek mythology, but I've played pretty fast and loose with it. _

_**Disclaimer:**__ The _Persona_ series is the property of Atlus. M rating is for strong violence as well as very disturbing and/or potentially triggering content. Language and non-explicit sexual themes are at a T rating. _

* * *

**Death and Ker**

* * *

**1**

There's always been a slow ache. I can't remember where it started, in my head or my stomach or one of those untouchable places – mind, soul, heart. All I can tell now is that I hurt all over. I can't feel the individual parts of my body, only rods of heat where a spine could be, or wrists, or those long bones in my thighs, or my neck, or the very top of my skull. It doesn't matter what's touched because touching one thing is touching everything. There's no taking things in small doses. Everything hurts together.

It isn't bad. Pain isn't bad. I had the flu once, and I could feel my arms and legs aching even when I was asleep. But the pain didn't keep me from sleeping, or from growing stronger.

I shift.

A voice breaks into –

I hunch deeper in myself, looking for a center to clamp down on, an anchor within, bracing for Erebus.

I shift.

The shiver of touch, all through me – my body and the Seal, it's all together. The ache, for a moment, is gone. Erebus isn't attacking. I can't even hear his harsh breathing. Is it – ?

It happened once. They were here, I could hear them. I could almost feel them, though they couldn't come close enough to touch. I wished so badly I was strong enough to destroy Erebus myself, so they could come close to me.

But if my friends are here, that could only mean that Shadows have broken through and overrun their world. I run my thoughts through the Seal, searching for any breach or weakness, almost wishing Erebus would approach again. I could touch him, try to read the layers of his thoughts. Humanity's despair is like an ocean, the small sadnesses sparkling on the surface, the water growing cooler and heavier with each kick downward. Has something new happened? Is –

...Theo?

His palm rests on the Seal, ungloved, skin more finely grained than wood, thread-thin channels of blood taut beneath flesh. His pulse beats in his wrist, breath puffing against my surface. The_ Seal's_ surface, not mine – I'm separate? – I can feel my body – my arms – my arms are bound in wire, my hands –

What are you doing?

Minako-sama.

Yes, it's Minako-sama, _what are you doing?_

I am doing my utmost, actually, to restrain Erebus.

That isn't all Theo is doing. I brace myself, as if I could spread myself back into the Seal, willing away the feeling in my arms, my back. I am not separate. I am the Seal. I am Minako. One is the other. Nyx touches my back, cool as adrenaline. My edges crackle, resonate, the gate's eyes open, the inscriptions on my golden surface glow. I am strong enough to hold Nyx and Erebus off from each other. That cannot change.

Minako-sama?

Thought and feeling stab through me as I separate again, snarls of wire tightening on my wrists, light flaring against my shut eyes, the softness of my hair against my neck.

Power bursts from me – I feel it lift Theo off his feet, thrust him away from me.

What is _wrong_ with you? Why are you trying to break the Seal? Don't make me –

I check that thought, leave it unfinished. Of course Theo realizes. He knows that if he tries to destroy the Seal, he'll have to fight me. But I can hear the humor under his reply.

In your current state, you would give me some trouble. (His hand rests on the Seal again, damn him, if he tries to – ) But if you would please listen: My master wishes to speak to you.

Somehow, I think that if Igor wanted to see me, he could do it without – Stop that! Stop trying to take me off the Seal! Why are you trying to destroy the –

I'm not. Please, give my master enough attention to hear his voice.

He's crazy. There's no way I can take my mind off the Seal. Erebus is always waiting.

I will protect you. I will always protect you.

I hesitate, then command myself to relax. Cold air ruffles past my skin, lifting my hair, a tall blue door rushing towards me through my thoughts.

My eyes open – and just then, I feel the softness of velvet under me, against my back – I'm in my lyre-strung chair, a table before me, and the Nose regarding me from the other side.

Igor folds graceful hands under his chin and smiles. "Welcome to the – "

"What's going on? Theo's holding off Erebus, but he can't do it forever, and I need to – "

"Do not be alarmed. The flow of time is arrested in this place. You must remember that from before. Theodore will not miss you long."

I swallow and square my shoulders, more or less settling into my chair. "Sorry. So... what's going on?"

Igor studies the table. There's a blue-tinted map spread across it, though I can't tell what country. He passes his hand sidelong over it and it vanishes. "What has Erebus told you? Of late."

"He doesn't change much." I gaze over Igor's shoulder. The Velvet Room is rising again, light flashing through its sharp-angled grillwork. The clock spins. For a moment, I could almost see a train station's clock superimposed over it, dripping blood. Or a pocket watch. Or the moon. "He's been apathetic. That's worse than when he's angry, when he wants to hurt me. I can fight a rival. I can't fight something that hardly cares." Oh hell, I'm Akihiko. "At the same time, there's an anxiety. Some kind of panic under the surface. " I flinch, recalling Erebus' attacks, throwing himself against the Seal, digging his claws in. He'd slump then, as if unable to hold himself up, using his weight to drag his claws deep through me.

"You find it difficult?"

"I'm not worried about the Seal. It can take –" Erebus reflects the souls who fuel him. My eyes jerk back to Igor. "Has there been an outbreak of Apathy Syndrome? No, there can't be. Nyx hasn't broken through at all."

"Nyx hasn't caused this." A slow smile stretches under Igor's nose. "That...fog of indifference and anxiety you feel is the handiwork of someone else entirely. And not your concern," he adds, turning his head to look at me out of one eye. "There is someone else trained in the art of cosmic ass-kicking, and you may trust him to do his job."

I raise my eyebrows, more at his choice of words than the rest of it. "Good to know."

"Indeed." He leans forward. "Has Erebus felt stronger?"

I study my fingers on one armrest. The half light makes my skin paler than usual, almost pale blue. "He's felt...scattered. Kind of erratic. I don't know if that means he's weakening or massing strength."

"Do you know what a ker is?"

I almost ask him to repeat the word, thinking I'd heard _care_. "No."

Igor's smile freezes a bit. "You never did bother to study mythology." He stretches one arm out and gestures to the curtained door at the side of the room, though I don't see anything change. "If you had, you would have had fewer surprises." He leans his elbows into his knees. "The keres. The children of Erebus and Nyx."

"Aren't... aren't I supposed to be keeping anything from happening between Nyx and Erebus?"

"Erebus broke the keres off from himself long ago and left them for humanity to incubate. The 'scattering' you feel is them gathering strength, wishing to unite with Erebus."

"So they're among humans?" My fingers knead the plush armrests. "What are they? You say 'children', but what does that mean?"

"My first thought is to call them – " he pauses " – Death-Fates. They are a type of Shadow."

"Fates?"

"Shadows that would see themselves as inexorable. They have stronger wills than most Shadows." Igor glances at the door, the corner of his mouth turning down with what I think is impatience. Nothing happens at the door. "Their leader could almost be a Persona, or a Persona-user."

"Leader?"

"The eldest and strongest child. She encompasses them all and is called Ker."

If I ever look back on this moment, I'll probably say something about how it's been so long since I've talked to anyone that even Igor's roundabout uselessness is welcome. But that's later and this is now. "You said they were all kers. Keres," I correct myself. "So_ she's_ called Ker too?"

Igor has leaned back, almost straightened his spine, and is staring intently at the door. "Yes. Ker is a ker. Now where is – "

The door clicks open and a blue figure glides out. For a moment, my eyes see what they expect to see – and then I realize the figure is too slim and feminine for Theo. She takes Theo's place behind Igor's chair, short platinum hair curving on pale cheeks, coin-like eyes slowly coming to rest on me.

Almost as slowly, I drag my eyes back to Igor. "Why are you telling me all this?" As he's settling himself to begin a lecture, I break back in, speaking as steadily as I can. "Igor. I'm dead."

He watches me.

I gesture around the room. "I'm not just Minako Arisato. I don't even belong _here_. I'm something else now." My arm comes back down, palm anchored on the armrest. "I made my choice."

He watches me.

"I made that choice on the condition that I could never go back."

"You never can," Igor says.

"So – " And my voice breaks off in that very human, un-Seal-like way. "You can't ask me to help."

"I can't force you to help," Igor says lightly. "But I will be surprised if you don't."

"I just said – "

He holds up his hand, and that still stops me, somehow. "Because of its unique heritage, a child of Nyx and Erebus can only be killed by a fellow ker. They can also, like any Shadow, be tamed. Some do, in fact, rise directly from the souls of strong individuals. There are sixteen keres, but you've dealt with several already."

"Beg pardon?"

"Several of them have taken the forms of Personas. Your own Personas." His long fingers unfurl as he counts off. "Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. Together, they form one ker, the Fates. They belong to the Wild Card and are in responsible hands at the moment. You need not concern yourself with them.

"Then there were Doom and Sleep. They took the forms of the Personas Moros and Hypnos. They died alongside their first selves."

"Jin and Takaya." I look at the carpet, as if resolve is sitting between my feet, then up at Igor. "I'm the Seal, Igor. I can't leave it, not even to fight these keres."

Igor watches me, the light in his eyes almost soft. "Another is Nemesis." I start. "Retribution. Ken Amada's Persona. She has ascended to Kala-Nemi, but she remains a ker."

"And capable of destroying the other keres. So Ken should be here, not me." Ken's alive? What year is it? How long has it been since they came to the Seal?

"And lastly – " the light in Igor's eyes has condensed to glacier hardness " – there is Death."

Something shifts in my mind.

"Igor – "

I can feel it, my second self stirring his shoulders, lifting his head. And I can't put him to sleep. He vibrates under my thoughts, alert, re-aligning his being with my own.

"Thanatos is a unique Persona, even for one such as yourself. Unlike a true Persona, he did not arise from your soul. You and he existed separately before you met on the Moonlight Bridge. Your bond has been unpredictable, but I believe it is stronger for being so unprecedented."

I need to think.

"You are no longer the Wild Card," Igor says. "That power has been inherited. You retain only three Personas: Orpheus Telos, Thanatos and Messiah. Only Thanatos, a ker, will be able to help you in these battles."

"I haven't agreed – if someone else has the Fates, why aren't you asking _them_ to join the fight? Or are they guarding a Seal too?"

Damn, Minako, unfair shot. For once, Igor's smile turns grim, and I glance down. "The Wild Card has fought long and hard and must husband his strength for a time. He has his own destroyer to face." And then the eerie benignity is back. "I believe you are more than capable on your own."

"Igor."

We fall silent and stare at each other. I'm not trying to out-glare him – I couldn't, not with eyes that round – and Igor doesn't glare so much as refuse to blink. I don't have to speak. I've said my part.

He knows. He knows I can't go back. It's not my world anymore. Or it's my world because I exist only to protect it. Either way.

I can fight the keres by fighting Erebus, as the Seal.

"Ken Amada is strong," Igor says. "But I don't believe he's strong enough to destroy all of the remaining keres."

My gaze flicks downwards.

I'm not sure how much time passes, but I swallow and look up, and am unprepared for the shake in my voice. "You said I couldn't go back."

"We said that you are no longer just Minako Arisato. You cannot go back to your mortality."

"If I – if I did this, what about the Seal? I can't fight and hold it at the same time."

Igor is leaning forward again, the edges of his lips curling with satisfaction. There's nothing relaxed about his posture though. "If you act quickly, Theodore's power can maintain the Seal in your absence. He will not be a Seal himself, but he is strong enough to hold its power in stasis."

"If I act quickly. What's _quickly_? What happens if I take too long?"

"If Theodore's strength runs out, he will have to release his hold on the Seal. It will be left vulnerable. Nyx and Erebus will destroy it between them. Your soul will return to the wreckage and remain there, guarding nothing." He pauses. "You will be trapped."

"And the world ends once Nyx shows up." How does he come up with these schemes? "No. It's too risky. I can't guarantee I can destroy – what, eleven keres? – before Theo runs out of power."

"You will not be the only one destroying keres." He plaits his fingers. "The others have already been set on their way."

I swallow. "Others?"

And I don't glance up, because I'm waiting for him to say something else.

How many years have passed for SEES?

Eleven keres to be killed between me and Ken? And Theo trying to hold onto the Seal? And if he can't hold it together – if I do this, if I take myself off the Seal, I'll be risking the entire world.

"Ken Amada is not strong enough to take all of them," Igor says. "You can remain the Seal, but if the keres are unchallenged, they will spread despair and violence before them."

"And Erebus will only grow stronger. I'm damned either way." I lift my head, spine straightening. "I –" Again, swallowing. Hardly makes a difference, but my voice is finally level again. "I'm not going to fight alongside SEES. It – they'd want me to be Minako again. They'd want me to stay, and I'd –"

I take a deep breath. "When they saw me as the Seal, they were able to leave happy. They were at peace. It's better if they don't see me again. And – " My fingers splay on the armrests. "I don't regret my choice, but it hurt so much. It's better if I don't see them again."

Igor gives me a smile and a dry blink. "I was going to suggest that myself. Now then – " He raises his arm. "I bid you farewell and good luck."

The world ripples around me. I clamp down on the chair. "Igor."

The edges resolidify. "Yes?"

"You're a bastard."

He waves me on.

"And I need clothes."

Igor lowers his eyes from my face and regards me. "So you do." After a moment's study, he reaches an arm back and gestures the woman in blue forward.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

There was no use wishing for miracles, but still Mitsuru Kirijo frowned at her cell phone. As if under the concentration of her stare, it would redial by itself, the call would connect, and Akihiko would pick up this time.

She wasn't used to being ignored. And her long history with Akihiko let her guess he was justifiably busy – had been all morning, either at the gym, the library, or work. All would mean the phone was off. Two years ago, this would not have been an issue. Even on the crowded island, she could hunt him down quickly. Because it was always best to relay delicate information face-to-face, rather than through a phone, much less via voice mail.

But Akihiko was now two hours away by train, and those were two hours Mitsuru didn't have. She was leaving Japan on the twentieth to return to university for the spring semester, and the closer that deadline came, the closer her employees seemed to cling to her. Mitsuru sighed, but not with much impatience. She was always unhappiest when she had little to do anyway.

Regardless. She couldn't contact Akihiko through his phone, she was unwilling to leave details on his voice mail where a third party (however slight the chance) might hear, and she had no time to track him down personally. She could try calling later, or another day, during some chink in her tightly-packed schedule.

Her eyes rested on the papers the elygology lab had sent up. It was the fourth such report, the fourth since September. The equipment did malfunction, had raised short false alarms in the past. But four alerts couldn't be four accidents.

SEES should know. And its senior members should know first.

Mitsuru glanced at her wrist watch. She didn't have two hours. But she probably had forty-five minutes.

* * *

Though still somewhat bewildered at the outside world, Mitsuru knew enough by now not to travel everywhere on an ultraflashy motorcycle. If she wished to move efficiently, she had to move inconspicuously. She changed out of her suit into a skirt and blouse and took the bus. But when she stepped out, she realized she was still overdressed.

Regardless again. She strode into the apartment building, casting about for a concierge – then checked herself. There wasn't any sort of desk; it started immediately into rows of dingily nondescript doors. She made her way down the hall to the door marked _stairs _and climbed her way up, coming out on the second floor, a bit glum that there was no one around to be impressed by her ability to memorize all her associates' addresses. She knocked on the second door on the left. Three clear knocks.

No answer.

She knocked again, then said, "It's Mitsuru. Excuse me for disturbing you, but we need to talk."

The knob grated and the door swung inward.

"Good morning," Mitsuru said.

Shinjiro answered by stepping back, allowing her room to walk in, and watching her from behind his shaggy hair. Mitsuru had braced herself for the disarray. Shinjiro didn't own enough for his single-room apartment to be cluttered, but his sleeping bag was slumped gracelessly against the wall and his suitcase yawned wide, clothes spilling over its bottom edge. The short stack of back issues of _Family Cooking_ stood ramrod straight, at an angle from the half-empty bag of dog kibble. Though dogs were not allowed in this building, Koromaru lay curled in a neat circle on the sleeping bag. He wagged his tail as Mitsuru leaned down and patted his head with her fingertips. He was looking well, sleek and clean, his eyes bright with pleasure. She studied Shinjiro rather more covertly.

Not covertly enough. "You hauling me in for more tests?"

That had been the only reason she'd sought him out recently, bringing him to Kirijo Labs in an effort to counteract the wreckage the Persona-suppressants had made of his health. Shinjiro claimed it was only because she felt guilty. Mitsuru insisted that it was her duty, both as head of the Kirijo family and as his old friend. They were still perfecting his treatment, and while the cocktail of drugs he took wasn't ideal for his health, his condition had remained stable for the past fifteen months.

She never said it, but his cooperation had surprised Mitsuru. And she didn't discuss it with Akihiko; she didn't want to shake him when he was so relieved that Shinjiro was willing to fight for his life.

"Not this time, I'm afraid." She glanced around the room. Nowhere to sit but the low table. Standing would do. She crossed her arms. "I was wondering if you could get ahold of Akihiko for me."

"Ah shit." Shinjiro leaned his shoulder into the doorpost. "The leash broke?"

"I've been trying to reach him all morning, but his phone's off, and I don't want to... I want to speak to him face-to-face. Do you think you could bring him back by this evening?"

"You want me to just hand him over to you?" Shinjiro glanced off and shook his head. "I ain't your messenger boy, Kirijo. I have to work."

"You don't have to go to Komatsu's Restaurant, it's closed for repairs until Tuesday. And your next night shift at Sasaki's isn't until three a.m. tonight. And you're only signed up to volunteer at the Bow Wow pet shop on weekends, and today is Wednesday."

Shinjiro stared at her.

"You have time."

"I ain't your bitch either."

"There's something we need to discuss. All of us, though I'd rather you and Akihiko heard first." She saw by the way Shinjiro evened his shoulders that he heard _all of us_ as _SEES_. He kept his eyes on her face, and the corners of his mouth tightened.

"The labs..." She needed a moment to collect her words. "The elygic readers have detected traces of Shadows."

"Fix 'em."

"It's happened four times. I don't believe they're malfunctioning."

"But then – " Shinjiro pushed off the wall and stalked away, hands digging in his jeans pockets. He wheeled on her. "Shit, what about Mina? You got readers for _her_?"

"You know we can't monitor – the Seal." She stumbled over the word, never quite sure what name to give it. "It is true that..." _That if Shadows are appearing, the Seal may be damaged. Or is_ – "No." She hadn't said her thoughts aloud, but she knew Shinjiro's were following the same trajectory. "The Seal can't have broken. Nyx would have destroyed us by now."

Koromaru whined, breaking them both out of their thoughts. Shinjiro stared at his boots. "So it means she's hurt? Or what?"

"I want you and Akihiko to come with me to the labs. We already know that Shadows predate the Dark Hour, so they must be able to exist independently of it. And outside of Nyx's direct control."

Shinjiro gave her a slow glare. "Keep talking. You don't know what the hell's up."

"Come with me to the labs. And please, get Akihiko."

* * *

Koromaru was used to being alone for most of the day, and Shinjiro had propped the window open so the dog could hop out, land on the next window's awning, jump to a car roof, and hit the streets. Shinjiro had passed him en route to the train station. He'd be fine on his own.

Shinjiro slumped off at a crowded campus station where the sky was a dirty pewter and the wind was even colder than in the city. He pulled his collar closer to his ears, jammed both hands to his pockets, and wished he still had that old beanie. It was almost noon. Aki was probably just finishing up at the gym or already at some butcher's block. Shinjiro had visited during Aki's first semester, and he glanced at the shop fronts he passed, trying to remember where they'd eaten. It would be the best place to start looking. Aki wasn't adventurous when it came to dining out.

As it turned out, he would've done better to scan the front windows instead of the store names. His gaze coasted over _Beef Bonanza_ twice before he checked the window. There was a pretty good view of the counter. He instinctively locked on the third patron from the end: bent forward, elbows on either side of a large bowl, just the edge of short silver hair showing. The tall girl hovering at one of the booths, glancing over every third second at the diner, was unnecessary confirmation. Shinjiro walked in.

The next seat was empty, but Shinjiro didn't take it. Aki had a newspaper spread in front of him, pages slanting across the counterspace. Reading over his shoulder, Shinjiro saw some article about that shit in the countryside, the TV antenna murders. He was sick of hearing about it. How many times had they said they'd caught the killer?

Aki tensed as he realized something was looming behind him, then hitched himself around, his expression shifting from wariness to pleasure to slight wariness again. "What are you doing here?"

"Having lunch." Shinjiro sat and slouched over the counter, elbowing the paper towards Aki. "You get extra credit for following that?"

Aki didn't bother reminding him that he hadn't even started his police training. He was adamant about getting his degree first, which would make rising through the police ranks all the faster. Maybe he'd seen following the murders as some kind of training, like solving it all long distance would prove he could walk a beat as expertly as box. Shinjiro watched him out of the corner of his eye, Aki folding the paper back up and tucking it into his coat, until a large bowl of lunch clunked down in front of him.

Bending over his own meal, Aki nudged aside a sliver of shredded onion with his chopsticks, making for a beef strip. "So what else brings you here? Everything all right at home?"

Shinjiro's instinct was to take his time in answering. The last thing he wanted was to make jumping to do Kirijo's bidding a habit. But he couldn't fight down the cold worry in his stomach. All the train ride up, memories of the Seal kept flashing into his thoughts. At first, it was on purpose, to reassure himself, to remember how invincible she had looked. But as the ride wore on, the memories came back all on their own, and too many of them had been of Erebus.

"Kirijo thinks there are Shadows around the island."

He pretty much heard Aki go still. "Without the Dark Hour?"

"She wants us to hit the labs with her." He frowned at his lunch. "I think she's aiming to get everyone else together." Ken, Aigis and Takeba were still in the area. Last he'd heard, Yamagishi was in Tokyo, and Iori had followed Chidori Yoshino somewhere while she studied under some artist.

"I don't think it's our fault this time."

Shinjiro listened carefully to the pitch of Aki's voice, trying to tell if he were pleased or disgusted at the Shadows' return. All he could be sure of was that there was a bit of humor under his friend's words.

"Unless someone _else's_ been making an Abyss of Time." Aki picked up another beef strip, then discarded it with a grimace. "It wouldn't be the first time we realized we weren't done with Shadows."

The track record was that bad. They'd thought they were done in November 2009 with the defeat of the Hanged Man Shadow, which had led to the world's most unsubstantiated sushi party. They'd thought they were done in January 2010 when Nyx had been averted and Tartarus destroyed – they'd lost all memories of Shadows even. And then in April, once they'd beaten the shit out of each other, then the shit out of Erebus, they'd closed the door on the Abyss of Time and let it and all its Shadows dissolve.

Shinjiro shoveled in a mouthful of noodles in an effort to convince himself he had an appetite. He'd wanted to think he was done with Personas and Shadows. He'd fought as long as he could to divide himself from them, with Castor trying to kill him for it. Even at the funeral, he'd tried to tell himself that at least there was that – at least she'd put an end to the Shadows.

His mind flinched away from remembering those times, March 2010. He hadn't gone to the wake, and he'd left during the funeral, before the casket was sealed and she could be taken away to be burnt. He'd seen that Aki was upset and forcing himself to stay for the entire service, and that had just made him angrier. He'd left without a backwards look, just to show he didn't have to be an idiot and watch this. Months later, he realized that he'd been just as afraid as angry – that he didn't want to see her lying in her coffin, surrounded by flowers and waiting for her body to be burnt down to the bone. He didn't want that sight to replace his last memory of her warmth in his arms.

As he stormed out of the funeral home, still weak and out of breath from his hospitalization, he'd pulled the wristwatch out of his pocket. He'd taken it without asking, before her relatives had come and taken everything else away. He turned it over in his hands. The buckle had frayed the leather strap in two places, once towards the end, once much closer to the center, where a slimmer wrist would have worn it.

All his talk about time passing and forgetting, and how you couldn't dwell on the past but you still had to make good memories to carry you through the present. It hadn't seemed so confused back then, but there, fifty feet from the funeral home, he couldn't remember how all these contradictions had finally linked up and made sense.

Despite that, he remembered that he'd been at peace once, even with his desire to let Ken kill him. Even with his desire to be with Mina. With all his memories returned, and with her gone, did he have to expect that he'd never be at peace again? Even when new thoughts replaced his memories of her, and life forced him further and further away from the short time when they'd been together?

Surely he'd always remember what had been important.

As he'd gazed at the watch, feeling something that wasn't quite numbness nor emptiness, his mind had shifted. Something stirred itself, rushed through his thoughts like a wind, and suddenly he knew that Castor was gone, given a newer form. A stronger form. An ascended Persona.

Should've realized then and there things weren't over.

"Where's Mitsuru?"

Shinjiro struggled out of his thoughts. "Heh?" He couldn't quite classify Aki's expression – some mix of anxiety and humor. And caution. "Your...your phone was off."

"So you went and got me?" Aki raised his eyebrows. "For her?" He blinked.

Shinjiro hunched over his bowl. "We got places to go. Finish your damn lunch."

* * *

I should've remembered, Theo said something once about having a sister. A sister named Elizabeth. I try to watch her closely (and casually) as she walks around me, her movements both swaying and collected.

For the first time, I've been allowed farther into the Velvet Room. I'd always assumed that door to the right (all the doors) led to another dimension, some place where people like Theo and Igor might be ordinary, or just belong. Maybe it does. But when Elizabeth guided me through, I stepped into this small room, wall-to-wall cobalt tiles and a chandelier covered in cold blue globes. When I first looked around, making a full circle, all I saw was a low bed with a velvet coverlet and a small black wardrobe. Then Elizabeth said, "Please, come here," in a dry sweet voice, and I'd turned around and suddenly there was an old-fashioned hip bath: sloping blue metal and full of steaming water.

"I wanted clothes, not a bath." I almost say it. But I look at her eyes, and they're the same color as Theo's and yet nothing like his at all. He's never so distant. I sit in the bath, some spicy scent I don't recognize rising around me.

And then she dumps ice water over my head. I think I scream and hunch down to the shoulders in the hot water, and by the time I straighten again, I've gotten most of the water out of my eyes.

And then Elizabeth's at my side, holding a dense blue washcloth. "You will want to clean those, surely." She jerks her chin towards my back. "Or should I?"

...Clean those? I glance over my shoulder, then stand in surprise, water dribbling down my legs.

Blood spreads across my back, blooming wider as I watch. Two fist-sized patches on the back of each shoulder, a clot of blood at the top of my spine. Long gashes down the backs of my upper arms. Small scrapes down the middle of my back, even more blood on my pelvis, in two blotches below the waist. Looking down, there's blood unfurling upwards through the water, seeping out from under my feet. I blink, wondering where it all came from, and why nothing hurts.

"My brother succeeded in pulling you off the Seal. But even with your consent, it didn't come easily." She uses one gloved hand to push down on my shoulder. "I hope they won't bother you too much."

I think I should've at least been_ aware_ of when I was ripped off my Seal. I kneel back down, careful to tip the soles of my feet up. Wherever my body was fused to the Seal, there's now a deep, pulpy wound. I brace myself, expecting them to ache once Elizabeth starts cleaning, but she's been dabbing away painlessly for a minute before I realize it.

Why wasn't I bleeding while talking with Igor? Probably because I hadn't made my choice yet, and Theo hadn't yet gotten me off the Seal. "Will Theo be all right?"

"He's a bit of a weakling." There's a calm cheer in Elizabeth's voice. "But once our master made us aware of his plan, I began training him."

There's something about the way she says _training_. "Are... you the one who made him eat dog food?" When she doesn't answer, I look over my shoulder. All she does is narrow her eyes in what I think is pleasure. Never mind. I twist around, trying to get a good view of the wounds. They're purplish in the light. As Elizabeth presses the (still clean) washcloth to my right shoulder, I can see that the bleeding's gone down a great deal – unnaturally even.

After a moment, she tucks the washcloth away somewhere and rises, hooking her hand under my arm to help me step out of the tub, water pattering down to the tiles. I turn around, craning my neck, and prod my left shoulder wound. There's no pain, and it's hardened over, a sand-dollar-sized knot of translucent skin and muscle. They're all like that, making a ragged, near-symmetrical pattern down my back and hips. I should be past all this, but I can't help a nauseous lurch up my throat.

Okay, fine. Clothes. I need to get out of here. I need to start this so I can get back on the Seal.

"Are you fond of the Seal?" Elizabeth saunters over to the wardrobe. (I don't think I said anything out loud...) She pulls one door open, the mirror swinging to face me. There's a hard darkness in this room – the chandelier keeps it from being shadowy, but even the light reflecting on the tiles can't hide their color. I'm a pale slash in the gloom, my hair flat and wet against my shoulders.

Never mind how she heard my thoughts. "It's where I belong."

"You are not eager to return to the mortal world?" She's shuffling through racks of soft-sounding fabric, leaning over so that one blue boot heel is in the air. "I have often longed to visit your world."

"It's..." I'm not sure there's a way to make one of Igor's henchmen understand. I was born on Port Island and lived there until I was six, but returning at age sixteen never felt like going home. Too much had changed, in me and around me. That was the difference between being a kid and being a teenager, having parents and being shuttled from relative to relative, being dependent and being on my own. Being innocent and knowing the Dark Hour. There's no way going back to – to living, to living and breathing and being among people isn't going to be different.

"I have so many memories of being alive. I think about them all again and again." I wait until Elizabeth steps away from the wardrobe, clothes over her arm, before continuing. "I don't want to.. go back to the places where I used to be now that I'm something else. I wish I could keep my memories pristine."

Maybe Elizabeth doesn't understand, or doesn't feel a need to answer, or hasn't been listening. She walks behind me, unfolding something black. "Lift your arms." (Wait, I'm dry? What?) She drops it on me – a dress, almost like a sundress but heavier. She tugs it around my hips, then pulls me into a blazer, crisp with panels of different shades of blue.

"What's with Igor and blue?" Theo said he wore blue because it's soothing, but that can't really be it.

No answer. She drops something into my palm – several somethings, cool and thin and metal – before heading back to the wardrobe. I roll them over my palm. They're gold hairpins. Six of them.

I don't mean for that hitch in my voice to happen. "Nice touch, Igor."

Elizabeth's back with shoes as I'm setting the pins in my hair, in the old XXII. Once into the low-heeled ankle boots, I look down at myself. I'm not very concerned about clothes. As in, the concept of clothes. It's only now I'm remembering that once, I would've been lethally embarrassed by Igor or this strange girl seeing me naked. Part of me thinks I'd be more comfortable running around as is. But I won't be able to cruise for Shadows if policemen are arresting me for public indecency, so clothes it is. Of course, I'd wanted inconspicuous clothes, not this Igor-blue getup.

"Here." Elizabeth holds something out.

"What? Oh – I don't need – "

_"Here."_ And she presses a pair of blue suede gloves into my hand.

"What, am I taking over as Igor's assistant?" Next thing I know, I'll be blond and yellow-eyed. Ha.

Holy shit, where's that mirror?

No, I'm not. Okay.

I'm pulling on my gloves as we step back into the main room – the elevator, I suppose. "So there are eleven keres left? How will I find them all?"

Igor hasn't moved. Maybe he never does. "There are many keres, and they take many forms – Dreams, Deceit, the Ferryman. Thanatos will likely pull them towards himself." (Not that again. Just like the Twelve Shadows. Why does everything center on Death?) "Beyond that, I recommend you keep your eyes and ears open. And now, a present. For good behavior."

There's a sudden weight in my right hand and my fingers instinctively clench around the shaft of a naginata, light from beyond the grillwork flashing frenetically across its steel blade. "Thank you, but there's no way I can carry this around Port Island in broad daylight. Maybe I should use a – "

Igor waves his hand. The naginata disappears. My fingers curl up – and for a moment, I can almost feel the shaft in my hand again. As I concentrate on that, the naginata reappears, which means I drop it in surprise, but it vanishes first. "Oh." I concentrate again. The weapon's back. "Oh!" I let it vanish. I bring it back. "Oh damn, cool." I vanish and un-vanish it again (to get the hang of it, okay, Igor, please don't glare, your eyes are so very round). "Thank you! But I'll need an Evoker too."

Igor chuckles. "I wouldn't think so. Haven't you already faced death?"

Oh – I – yes, I suppose pretending to shoot myself in the head wouldn't be necessary now. Though I hope that doesn't mean Thanatos will come roaring out of me whenever he wants. (Thanatos' thoughts shift against my own, but I can't tell what he's saying.)

"Now, Elizabeth, see our guest to the correct floor."

I turn to follow Elizabeth to the door, then glance at Igor. "Is this it? I know I'm not the Wild Card, and there's no contract, so..."

Igor watches me a moment, and his smile widens an inch. "You may need a bit of help."

That shouldn't make me as happy as it does, that I'm going to see Igor again. But if I'm going out into the world again, determined to run through it as quickly and unnoticeably as I can, I have to cherish what friends I can still keep.

Elizabeth holds the door open. I expect to see the alley behind Paulownia Mall, but all there is is pale blue fog. I step through, the door clicks shut – but Elizabeth's still with me? She puts her hand on my shoulder and guides me a few steps into the mist before stopping us both and pointing with her free hand.

I can't make anything out at first – the mist is shifting lazily, and my eyes naturally try to make sense of it, finding shapes in it – and then I back away a step, because one shape comes out all on its own.

It's a thin, stretched-out woman, as pale and blue as the mist, naked with streaming hair and her hands to her face. I shiver beneath my skin. Thanatos is awake and looking through my eyes, bracing himself.

"This is Achlys, a ker," Elizabeth says. "The Mist. She will not fight you." Thanatos subsides, though I don't feel his presence leave my mind entirely. "She has no desire to damn humanity, only to guide souls to their final resting." She releases my shoulder and walks back to the door. "You will not see her again until you destroy the keres and your task is complete. Or until your Seal is destroyed and she guides you into eternal darkness." The wind sweeps up, ruffling across Achlys and distorting her form. When the wind falls again, she's vanished.

"Your first target is Eris," Elizabeth says. "Discord." She opens the door to the Velvet Room, half steps in. "You should be on your way."


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

Akihiko kept smoothing the front of his shirt and straightening his jacket until he could no longer deny that Shinji had noticed and that something in his glances had turned sardonic. Akihiko evened his gloved fingers on the hanging strap and turned towards the train window. It was odd to be going home so suddenly, that was all.

Home. For a long time, that word had meant the orphanage, even for years after it burnt down. He'd grown up there; it had been an unchanging center for all his activities. It had taken nearly two years for the Iwatodai dormitory to gain that sort of permanence in his mind. He doubted he'd ever think of his university as home.

They weren't returning to the dormitory. But it was Port Island, all their old haunts of school time, weekends and the Dark Hour. It was Akihiko, Shinjiro and Mitsuru still, in spite of their best efforts, coming back to each other.

He smoothed his shirtfront.

"Call Kirijo," Shinji said after they were more than halfway to Iwatodai station. "She'll want to scoop us up and get to the labs ASAP."

"You call her."

Shinji looked at him.

"Never mind," Akihiko muttered, pulling his cell out of his pocket. He rolled his shoulders while waiting for the call to connect. It was all too likely that Mitsuru would be busy and unable to –

"Akihiko! It's good to finally hear from you. Are you on your way?"

Of course. "Yeah, Shinji told me what's going on. The bare bones at least. I'm hoping you can fill in some details."

"I'm glad you're coming. We've received more information since morning. I'll have a car waiting for you. It's..."

The line fell silent, and he thought he heard a soft intake of breath. "Mitsuru?"

"I'm going to call the others too. I...trust you've brought your Evoker."

"Sure did."

"I'll see you soon." And she hung up.

Akihiko pocketed the phone and gazed out the window without looking at anything at all. "This sounds serious."

"You're getting off on this."

Akihiko darted a look – Shinji was turned away, but Akihiko saw the smile edging his mouth. All right. Even though he _wasn't_ looking forward to this and he was _done_ with seeing Shadow-hunting as a kind of sport, he'd let the comment pass.

"You were smiling."

"Be quiet," Akihiko shot back. (He'd been smiling?)

"It ain't some test, Aki. Doesn't matter if anyone gets stronger, I just want the Shadows dead."

Akihiko's fingers tightened on the strap, but he forced himself to relax the muscles. "You're worried about Minako?"

Shinji didn't answer.

* * *

Red symbolized love. At least, that's how Junpei read it.

He straddled one of the fold-up chairs, leaned his chin on his crossed forearms, and tried not to be distracting as he watched. Of course, it was almost insulting the way, no matter what he did, Chidori was hardly ever distracted while working. A year ago, she had up and left Port Island to follow this artist who, as far as Junpei knew, no normal person had heard of, and moved halfway across Japan. And Junpei had found himself, both eager and bewildered at his own eagerness, following her and finding work in this small town. Chidori had been pleased and very careful not to show it; but Junpei had made quite of study of her moods, both during her time with Strega and after she lost all her memories of the Dark Hour. He knew what to look for and she was totally thrilled.

He'd also learned that asking questions while she sketched was fine, but while she painted – while she was applying permanent colorful splotches to her masterpieces – he must remain silent. So he'd chattered cheerfully all last week while she had been sketching a portrait of him, even suggesting she go for something shirtless. Today, on his day off, he kept his mouth closed and his teeth firmly on his lower lip as he watched her sit in front of his sketch, pick up her bottle of red acrylic paint, pick up her paintbrush, and start – well, he thought of it as _shwopping_. That was the sound the wet paintbrush made as it swiped across the canvas.

"Looks good," he mentioned during a lull in the activity while Chidori reloaded her brush. "This, uh, a new technique Higashino-sensei taught you?"

_Shwop_.

"I mean, it's nice. It's really nice. It's just, uh, the red, it's practically covered me up."

_Shwop._ "Hush, Junpei."

Red paint had to mean love. It was all about context.

Chidori shot him an impatient look when his cell went off, and Junpei held up a conciliatory hand. She reluctantly leveled her frown into something close to a smile and went back to her picture. Chidori's studio was small, so the best he could do to get out of earshot was step into the short hallway outside and keep his voice down.

"Hey, Mitsuru-senpai! 'Sup?"

There was a bit of a pause.

"Whoa – whoa, hold on. What?"

The studio door was still open – Junpei had several times accidentally locked himself out when taking a call – and he could faintly hear _shwop shwop splatter_ under the rapid fire of Mitsuru's voice.

"But Senpai, that's – This shouldn't be – what? Uh huh. Yeah? Yeah, but – right. Yeah. Okay." He closed his phone and stared at it for several moments, shuffling and reshuffling his thoughts. Then walked back in, quietly closing the door behind him. "Chidorita?"

She kept painting for a moment, then looked over her shoulder at him in surprise. "Is there trouble?"

"Uh – could be. One of my senpai – Kirijo-senpai, you remember her, right?"

Chidori's upper lip arched in distaste. "The hospital one."

"Yeah, her. Um..." Junpei took a moment to choose his words. Though Chidori didn't remember Strega or SEES' true purpose, she knew Junpei had spent a year in a special dorm for a school club. She hadn't asked a lot of questions about his time there, taking it as part of his past, and he didn't think she was particularly curious about it. She'd met his old dorm mates over the years and got along with them well enough. She knew they were close. "Kirijo-senpai kinda wants to get all of us old SEES members together again."

"As a reunion? Then why do you look so worried?"

"No, it's – um. It's... a...a... Well, you know, I guess I'll see when I get there."

Chidori lowered her paintbrush. "So you're going?" She frowned at her picture. "For how long?"

"Dunno. SEES business, it takes as long as it takes."

Chidori was still regarding her picture. "I don't see why it should take you so long. It was just a school club. What did SEES do anyway?"

Junpei blinked. "City improvement." And rubbed the back of his neck as Chidori looked over. "You know, neighborhood beautification. Clearing up, um, bad stuff. In the streets. Sometimes."

"They have to call you back for that?"

Junpei put on a wide smile and an exasperated shrug. "It's Kirijo-senpai! She's scary. I don't argue with her."

Chidori narrowed her heavy-lidded eyes, her lips pressing together in what was starting to be a very elegant, very severe pout.

"Hey, hey, hey, come on, lemme get rid of that." He leaned down and kissed her (and leaning back, he saw he sort of got the pout out of her mouth). "I'll be back soon." Chidori blinked, and her features relaxed with thoughtfulness. "And you'll be working on another great masterpiece when I come back, and – "

"I could come with you."

"Wha?"

"If you aren't going to be gone long, I could come too."

"Wait – Chidori – " He scrambled for an easygoing smile. "Chidorita. You – you can't do that, you gotta finish this and meet with Higashino-sensei and – "

Chidori waved that away. "I want to go with you."

Junpei swallowed. "You'll be bored. It, it's just city improvement, you know. We're gonna talk about decorative flower pots and new streetlights and...pretty benches."

"It doesn't matter if I'm bored – " she leaned up and kissed him " – so long as we're together."

Half of Junpei's brain still ransacked itself looking for a way out of this. The other wondered what it would be like to win an argument.

* * *

Akihiko led the way out of the train onto the platform, searching the crowd for a chauffeured car. His attention passed twice over a tall figure in a red jacket, and surprise jolted all through his chest when he realized it was Mitsuru. Her long hair was swept back, and the rest of the crowd was giving her stiletto boots a wide berth. It seemed they recognized each other at the same moment, because her shoulders jumped and she strode forward, unconsciously parting the crowd between them.

"You're looking well, Akihiko." She let her gaze run quickly up and down him. She'd given him exactly the same once-over when they first met, and despite her clear approval, it still made Akihiko self-conscious, as if there was some level of excellence he had yet to attain. "It's been six months, hasn't it? How are your studies?"

Akihiko said something vague that got them to Mitsuru's car, low and silver and about as inconspicuous as her motorcycle had been. At least she'd thought to put the top up. As she slid behind the wheel, Shinji and Akihiko gave each other a long look, then Shinji glanced at Mitsuru, either smiled or grimaced, and took the back seat all for himself. Akihiko avoided looking at him as he buckled himself in next to Mitsuru.

"I've called the others," Mitsuru said as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Iori and Yamagishi are on their way. The others are already at the labs. I'd like to save any explanations until we're all together."

"Koro-chan won't be back at my place until evening," Shinji said.

Mitsuru pulled a half smile. "We will be sure to bring Koromaru up to speed."

"What's this new information you learned?" Akihiko asked.

She glanced sidelong at him, a tense glance he'd seen hundreds of times throughout his high school years. "We caught a Shadow."

* * *

Junpei stared out the train window and crossed his arms on his stomach, as if trying to press the nerves flat, hoping Chidori didn't notice. It wasn't simply that he was bringing Chidori into SEES business – he didn't want to think of Mitsuru's reaction – and Chidori's reaction once he tried to get some time away from her to investigate the Shadows. It wasn't simply that Shadows had been spotted. There was part of him that still thought Shadows were in their destiny, like they were superheroes or something. The sheer power a Persona packed was made to last across a lifetime, wasn't it?

To be honest, he was worried about SEES coming back together. He trusted all of them, any of them, to have his back, but he'd seen what had happened at the end of March 2010. They'd been united at the start when the bottom had dropped out of their world – okay, their lounge – and revealed the Abyss of Time. They'd struggled through it blindly at first, just knowing there were Shadows that had to be killed and a half-seen –_ someone_ – that had to be followed. Even as they gradually realized who they were chasing, none of them had come forward to say her name.

Finally, whatever fates were out there had sent them clarification in the form of that Theodore guy, who said he used to know Minako. She'd never mentioned him, but he seemed to know everything about her Personas. So either he was telling the truth, or he was something very sinister. He'd pop up every so often as they made their way through the Abyss, confronting their memories and gathering ten Keys. He'd been the one to explain the Keys' purpose, and that was when Junpei most suspected him of being evil. His revelation had almost destroyed SEES.

They'd all argued before, a collection of personalities that sometimes fit together very unevenly. But never out and out fought with weapons and Personas. He hadn't thought he'd have to fight Yukari, or see Akihiko and Mitsuru turn on Shinjiro, or Aigis unable to choose, or Fuuka standing in the middle of it all and begging everyone to stop. Finally, after fighting each other half to death, they'd realized that they couldn't decide until they'd seen what had happened to Minako.

Which had finally saved them. They'd seen Minako, fought Erebus, and said they'd come to terms with the past. Damn. Junpei would have been happy to see all his friends again under normal circumstances, but these weren't normal. What was going to happen to SEES next? Were they going to be pushed back to the point where they hurt each other? Could they take it a second time?

Junpei drew a long sigh. In a moment, Chidori slipped her hand into his and smiled comfortingly. "Poor Junpei. You must not be looking forward to those flower pots."

* * *

The fog dissipates quickly, and for a moment, the ground seems to be rushing under me, like a treadmill. Then the air clears and a cold breeze hits my face, ruffling the hem of my skirt. My eyes focus out for a moment. When my vision clears, I see I'm standing in a side street between an apartment building and a dry cleaners, wedged between two parked cars. Everything looks – normal. That is, nothing looks futuristically unrecognizable, though I'm not sure what part of the city I'm in, or if it's even Port Island. Quiet as possible, I sidestep out from between the cars and up the side street, pausing under an awning to get my bearings.

I can't move for the longest time. There are people, so many of them, walking, driving, out shopping. There are two kids chasing each other down the sidewalk (older people look so disapproving). There's a cat sunning itself on a window ledge above a store. There are posters and ads on shop front windows, there are trash bins, there's a couple walking while eating ice creams, there's a man with a limp pulling out his cell phone, there are tourists lost with pocket Japanese phrase books.

What year is it? Oh hell, are my legs shaking?

At first, I didn't move because I had to look at everything, I had to take it all in and remember what it was and just – just look at it, because I thought I'd never see any of it again. Now, I'm afraid to move.

Get a grip, Minako. You aren't going to walk around a corner and bump into one of them. It won't happen. The city's too big.

None of them might even be around here anymore. Mitsuru was going overseas, Akihiko's got to be at college. Shinjiro – pain hits my chest – Shinjiro has to be dead at this point, so I'm safe from that. Fuuka would've gone away to study, Yukari wanted to travel. Ken – Ken is probably at cram school, Junpei has to be working somewhere, Aigis –

Oh damn, Aigis. What happened to you once SEES was gone?

I can feel the roughness of concrete even through my glove. I've clamped down on the corner of the apartment building. What am I doing? Trying to hold myself here?

Well. I won't see any of them. It's fine. I have to start doing this.

C'mon, Thanatos. Let's find a ker.

Damn it, though. I want to explore this city.

* * *

Ken Amada rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet. He was still in his soccer uniform – Mitsuru's call had come halfway through his practice, and his coach had been thunderous when Ken said he had to leave early, even to meet with the head of Kirijo Electronics. His cleats clipped and clopped over the white tile floor, and he was walking carefully so as not to scuff anything. He figured he couldn't do more damage than Aigis' heavy peg legs did. Not that she'd been pacing or fidgeting. She and Yukari had been waiting in this small room when Ken arrived at the labs. There wasn't much to look at – white walls, white floor, some hard white plastic chairs grouped around a small table. The door they'd come through, and a door on the other side of the room that Ken supposed was waiting for them once Mitsuru returned...

"Ken-kun? _Ken_?"

His head jerked up. Yukari and Aigis were both staring at him, the former with impatience. "You weren't listening, were you?"

"Sorry, um..." His head was pounding. He hadn't been sleeping well lately, and running around the field hadn't helped, but he wouldn't make excuses. He should've been listening. "I'm sorry. What were you talking about?"

Yukari was sitting on the table, and she swung her legs as she talked, shoulders stiff. "The Seal. Aigis and I were talking about getting back to it, and I – " She broke off a moment, and Ken tried not to look uncomfortable. With the Keys, she and he had been on opposite sides, and it was still hard to talk about it sometimes. "I think we should go to it, if we can. To see if there's any damage, or maybe that Theodore person will show up again and tell us what the hell is going on. Because if the Shadows are back..." Aigis turned her head to speak, and Yukari preempted her. "I know, we think the Shadows aren't necessarily tied to Nyx. But still, if it's Nyx, and if the Seal's damaged, chasing Shadows all over Japan isn't going to help."

Pain pounded behind Ken's eyes. "How would we fix the Seal though? I mean..." The Seal had been created through death. So to fix it... He shook his head, as if trying to throw off the thought.

"We will do what we can," Aigis said.

* * *

Koromaru trotted briskly up the avenue. He might not know how old he was, but he knew he was feeling great after a day on the streets. Like Akihiko when he got back from the gym, or Yukari when she got back from archery club, or Junpei when he leveled up on his handheld. His nails clipped on the pavement, his tail wagged from side to side, and his tongue lolled in contented pinkness over the edge of his black lip. His stomach growled, and he was looking ahead. Getting back into Shinjiro's apartment was tricky, but he'd perfected it. It was a matter of jumping onto a trashcan lid, from there to a car roof – he always picked the one that never moved and always had a tarp over it – Koromaru was a conscientious dog – to the awning, scramble a bit and there was the window, open in readiness. Shinjiro usually didn't mind if he sneaked himself some kibble before feeding time.

In a lull in the traffic, Koromaru crossed the street at a lope, jumping to the opposite sidewalk. He was just collecting himself for the first dash to the trashcan when a scent lifted off the pavement. He stumbled in surprise, cocked his head, then lowered his muzzle to the concrete.

Memories came back before a name did – soft, square hands, legs that were fun to race against, yummy leftovers.

Koromaru's head jerked up. He was not confused. He knew that scent, knew it precisely. It was Minako.

He stood still for a moment, staring down at the sidewalk. A passing kid leaned over to pat his rump and he didn't even wag his tail.

Minako was not supposed to be out and about. She'd gone away forever. So what was going on? Did someone get her scent and drag it over the city? Was it a trap? Was it her? Should he find the others?

The scent was fresh.

Koromaru panted and whined, pawing the pavement and gazing the way she must have gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

It's later in the day than I'd thought, the sky working quickly towards evening. And cold. Igor's blazer is in no way warm enough, and I pull the lapels close, walking quickly and wishing there was something covering my legs. Don't seek shelter though. It's all I can do not to skip and bounce down the sidewalk, turning every which way and taking everything in. Ah, look – a coffee shop! An electronics store! Really ugly boots for sale! I don't know why I care. I didn't go crazy like this when I was alive (usually) but now I never want to stop looking. Not a good attitude for a citygoer. People keep bumping into me and muttering about tourists.

I peek in at the window of a bakery, and the day-by-day calendar on the counter finally answers my question – it's January the fourth. 2012.

I stop on the street, working out the math. If I'd lived, I would have turned nineteen last November. Junpei's going to be nineteen in two weeks. My senpai are going to be twenty one this year. Ken's going to be turning fourteen this summer. Wow. Almost dateable.

I could kick myself for making stupid jokes, and for this moment, I couldn't be happier. They're still alive. They're still out here. It's terrible and wonderful that they were so hard to leave behind.

Even though I left, they've kept living, and they've done stuff, and they know all these things I don't and –

I – I can't just stand here. I have to find the keres.

I hurry on. What about it, Thanatos? Where do I start looking? Igor said the keres would be drawn to my Persona, but all I see are crowds, the busy-ness of Port Island.

By full evening. I've crossed over towards Paulownia, and I almost head inside. But I was always hanging around here. It's just too likely I'll run into someone, even someone who hardly knew me. The fortune lady, or the groove guy, or the scruffy guy who was always talking about his dreams. I head away, off towards some shopping centers I usually ignored. Being around people seems like the right idea. Even if they didn't know about Shadows and the Dark Hour, people always used to be talking about their effects – cults, fear, Apathy Syndrome, all that. Maybe I'll get some clues as to the first ker. What did Elizabeth call it? Discord?

The restaurants are filling up, loud with chatter. That'd be a good place to start, but I'm not hungry (am I going to get hungry?) which is good because I don't have any money (am I going to need money?). A few of the restaurants have small, outdoor dining areas, but they're mostly empty in the chilly evening.

Once it's night and each building is almost too bright for the dark streets, my breath is puffing in the air, my legs are red-white-splotchy from cold, and I have not seen a single ker. Thanatos sits quietly behind my thoughts, so still I've forgotten he's there for the most part. I've passed people eating dinner, couples making out in the shadows, two businessmen arguing about going to a pop concert, a tourist speaking disconsolate English into her cell phone. So, Igor, what do you want? What am I supposed to be looking for? It's not like Thanatos is a scanning Persona. That's about the one thing I could never do.

Whistles.

I keep walking. C'mon, guys, seriously, look at these legs, they look like really bad pizza right now.

"Shut the hell up," a male voice growls, followed by some turns of phrase that I never even heard from Shinjiro. My steps slow as I force myself not to think of him (how long did he live, after waking up from the coma?), and I can't help a slight turn of my head, just to see who my, um, defender is.

I've come abreast of a bar, with some guys out front smoking, nearly silhouetted against the lit windows. Another guy, broader across the shoulders than the others, has kicked a trashcan onto its side, letting the garbage spew out. He's sitting on it, hair down to his waist and bearded, a shapeless cap over one eye and a long, ragged greatcoat. There's a smell rather worse than cigarette smoke, and I pick up the pace again, wishing I was upwind.

"Hold on," that same gruff voice says, and I realize that Lovely here is my defender. "You took a long look. You can't say you're too proud to say 'good evening'."

His Japanese is perfect, but there's some accent I can't pick out – English-speaking, I think, but I don't recognize it as British or American or anything like that. I've turned towards him before I can tell myself to keep walking. He leans back to study me, throwing his face into better light. Gaunt features, a long pipe between his teeth, some of which are missing. I can't guess his age, except that he's older than me. His hair is some color between blond and brown, and his eyes look greenish, and they track me up and down a few times.

I'm not good at staying away from trouble; people always used to say this about me. But this isn't trouble, it's just a word. So – "Evening," I say, and turn to go.

"You have a look of death about you."

I turn back around. The guy's leaned forward onto his knees again, and the others are talking amongst themselves, someone laughing. Is this a weird set-up, or...? I turn to go.

"You keep out of the light, but there it is just the same."

What?

...I've got a naginata and a Persona with a huge metal mask thing. I can handle whatever's going on here. I turn back and stare at him, waiting for him to explain. He gestures sideways, and unresistingly I step into the glare of the windows.

He stares at me a moment, teeth cracking around his pipe, and nods slowly like he already knew what he'd be seeing. "You're pale enough, and your hair's the color of dead things, dead leaves. Eyes like dirt and blood." He leans back and turns away, drawing on his pipe. "Why pussyfoot around it? Why not carry your damn scythe in the open?"

I blink, but I can't quite deadpan this, and I find myself shifting my weight once from foot to foot. "Are you friends with Mama at Club Escapade or something?"

"Shove off," the guy says, gesturing me away. "Take your dirt with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Pretty girl." He swings to his feet, the trashcan rolling away with a clatter. "Death shouldn't pretend to be cute. It's raw and bleeding and it loves the living more than food or air." He chuckles. "I don't want to be friends." And he slouches into the light of the bar's front door.

I pitch forward a step, about to follow, then pull to a stop, hardly hearing the question one of the other guys throws at me. What was he talking about? Could he tell I was dead? I could ask Death himself, but Thanatos is quiet, uninterested in this exchange.

People have different gifts. Mama at Club Escapade could see the future, even if she couldn't see enough to do anything with it. Maybe Lovely here is like that, only even less helpful.

Whatever the case, I can't just stand here, even if I can't dismiss it from my mind. I turn and set off at a jog, following the glares of lamplight. Still no idea what exactly to look for.

* * *

There was an unsettled tension in the small white room . They were talking in lowered voices, almost like kids in the back of a classroom. They'd taken in the small differences at a glance – Yukari's hair was a bit longer since they'd seen her last, Ken was taller, Fuuka's relentless studying had cost her a bit too much weight – and then set to discussing the Shadows.

"Why's she making us wait?" Junpei asked under his breath. "The three senpai – they gotta be here already, they didn't come as far as I did."

"They were here earlier," Fuuka said. "I asked at the front desk, and the receptionist had seen them. Maybe Mitsuru-senpai's briefing them early?"

Junpei shook his head. "So, how long did it take you to find your Evoker? Mine was in my old backpack. Oh yeah, and I found 2000 yen. Seriously!"

Yukari glanced long-sufferingly at the ceiling – then sighed. "I keep mine under my bed. I mean, yeah, I know, it's the most basic hiding place, but at least I never forget it."

"I was more worried about taking mine onto the train." Fuuka clasped her hands. "Sometimes I think it'd be better if Evokers looked like soda cans... or rubber erasers."

"Man." Junpei chuckled. "You don't wanna know the trouble I went to just to make sure Chidori didn't see it."

"Wait." Yukari slid off the table to her feet. "Chidori? You brought her?"

Junpei cringed away as they all turned to him – then set his shoulders. "People, this isn't going to be a problem. She's just gonna have fun around the city while the rest of us –"

The inner door clicked open, and then everyone in the room was moving, advancing on Mitsuru and asking questions. She kept her arms crossed and her face composed, waiting for the hubbub to die on its own. Shinjiro and Akihiko stood in the hallway behind her, just close enough to be seen. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long. Is everyone here?" She cast around the room, then took a step back. "Please, follow me."

She led them down the hallway, opened the first left-hand door and preceded them in. Her Evoker hung at her waist.

"Oh my," Fuuka said under her breath, eyes unfocusing for a moment. "Yes, even without Juno, I can..."

"Is it that strong?" Akihiko asked. Though he and Shinjiro didn't look as apprehensive as the others, they certainly weren't relaxed, Akihiko's movements quick, Shinjiro deliberately hanging in the back.

Once they were inside, no one had to ask where the Shadow was, only how Mitsuru had gotten it into a glass box.

"Too easily," Mitsuru said. "We found it like this, near Shirakawa. It's made no resistance."

The box was like a long clear coffin, as if the Shadow were some saint's incorruptible body on display. It had taken the shape of a young woman, lying on her back with her hands folded at her breast. She wore a purple diaphanous gown, and white roses grew intertwined with her long brown hair. Her eyes were large and shut, and she breathed very softly.

"She didn't wake up at all?" Junpei asked. "Did you try kissing her?"

"Yamagishi, if you would?" Mitsuru said.

Junpei's eyebrows jumped, but everyone ignored that. "But it isn't the Dark Hour – Oh." Fuuka's eyes rounded. "All Personas need is the presence of Shadows. I see. Yes." And she stepped away from the others to give herself room, pulling her Evoker out of her purse. In a moment, Juno surrounded her, peacock feathers spanning to either side.

"So?" Akihiko said after a moment while Mitsuru hushed him.

"She's very powerful, I can see that much easily. I...I can't sense any arcana for her. All I see are...Dreams?" Fuuka frowned, chin tucking closer to her chest as she concentrated. "Is that your name? Oneiroi?"

"Does she have anything to do with Nyx?" Yukari broke in. "Or is she one of those Shadows you were talking about?" She looked at Mitsuru. "Something that has nothing to do with Nyx or Death?"

"We have no way of knowing yet." Mitsuru regarded her crossed arms, deep in thought. "Last September, the elygologists picked up readings of a Shadow in the city, first in the Shirakawa area, and then around Paulownia. Its readings were indistinct, half-formed... and even though it was always in crowded places, it didn't attack. In fact, it seemed to be walking among humans without them being bothered by it."

"What the hell? You mean, it was just chilling with humans?" Junpei glanced to either side. "Like it was Ryoji or something?"

"We may never know. Its readings were so haphazard that we could never pinpoint its location closely enough, so capture was impossible. But I have to extrapolate that there are many different types of Shadows. If this one has no arcana, it may be unrelated to Nyx, or at least, not a Shadow broken off from Death. I don't know if we should destroy this one or study it." She cut off. No good had ever come of the Kirijos researching Shadows.

"So where are we going to take her?" Akihiko asked eventually, following her thoughts. "We're going to need room to fight."

"I want to keep the Shadow within the labs. They're secure, no bystanders will be hurt." She considered a moment. "I'll find a suitable location and make the necessary arrangements. We'll do it tomorrow."

"I, uh... This might sound dumb," Junpei said, already looking at Yukari and awaiting a comeback, "but I kinda hope she wakes up by then." He shrugged. "It's gonna feel wrong offing her in her sleep."

* * *

"Dude, I can't believe Risette's dating someone! First she quits, then she – she – dammit, I'm her number one fan, how could she do this to me!"

"There's still Kanamin. And she's even more jailbait than Risette, so it's all good."

"I like Toshiko Miura. She's got, like, no boobs. I _heart_ her."

"Dude, what about – "

I miss good old fashioned drunks, you know, ones that went on and on about Apathy Syndrome and how something hasn't been right for ages and ages and maybe there could be some freaking clue about where the first freaking ker is. I've been hovering around in restaurants and bars for three hours now, and the most exciting thing I've heard about are some murder cases in Inaba (nice place; it's sad all that's been going on there).

"Hey!" I say, leaning on the counter next to one of the drunks, the Kanamin fan. "What about Eris? Discord? How about that?"

He blinks at me. "You got boobs. Go away."

"Clear off, kid." Oh, the bartender noticed me. "Go home and get some sleep."

That's my cue to exit. I glance at the wall clock as I leave – it's wearing on towards eleven. Still neither tired nor hungry, just impatient. There's been a light drizzle since I went into the bar, and the darkness has that sharp, thin coldness that rain brings, the wet street glossy from the streetlights. I walk. There's nothing else to do but keep moving and looking, and trying not to think of Theo, hoping he's all right. And resisting the urge to walk past the old dormitory. What did Mitsuru do with all the equipment? I wonder who's living there now. Is someone in my room? That dorm was my life, and now someone else has covered it with their own stuff, their own memories.

In a way, I'm kind of sad I wasn't buried here – I'm sure Aunt Izumi put me with my parents. It'd be interesting to see my own grave. I could say that some part of me is still here.

An apple rolls across the gleaming pavement, rocking to a stop at my feet.

That's...remarkable.

It's red and beaded over with moisture.

My eyes follow the line it rolled down. It must have come from that alley, between two unlit buildings.

I kneel and pick up the apple, rolling it in my palm. It's much wetter than I'd thought, slick even, wetness dribbling off the small leaf on its stem.

After a moment, it beats in my hand, then stops, then beats again. And again. And keeps beating as bloody water pumps out from it and seeps through my glove.

* * *

Aigis and Yukari didn't talk much as they took the night bus back to the apartment. They'd been working it over and over again ever since Mitsuru called about the Shadow. Yukari wanted to plan, wanted to know exactly what she'd have to do. As long as she knew that, she could build her courage up to it. Aigis was fighting the algorithms that compelled her to begin planning, to seek out every Shadow that might be in the city. They had to wait and see. They had to know what was going on before they could effectively stop it.

Now, alone in her room, Aigis leaned back in her chair and began the lengthy task of shutting down – or tried to. It used to be easier, but now she herself slowed the process, staying awake as she tried to think things through, reflect on the day and plan for the future. The same worry kept swinging back into her thoughts – was the Seal damaged?

Two years after the girl's death, Aigis' thoughts still often returned to Minako. Ryoji had said Minako had given him the gift of humanity, but Aigis could have said it as well. At first – the very first – all Aigis had known was the necessity of finding Minako. Finding Thanatos rather, in order to keep him contained. To Aigis' corrupted memory, he was indistinguishable from Minako, and the order to neutralize the Shadow had translated into protecting his vessel at all costs.

Aigis could not pinpoint when the compulsion had shifted, only that it had once Palladion fell to Thanatos. She had come to protect Minako for her own sake. In following her, she had made the girl not only the center of her limited world, but her template for _human_. If Minako had love, Aigis wanted love. She wanted to love, and she wanted to love her center.

Junpei had sometimes joked with Aigis about her dedication to Minako. What exactly was it she felt for her? He described all kinds of human relationships, maternal, filial, sibling, romantic, affectionate, and Aigis could never exactly place her own feelings.

She learned, to her consternation, how many different forms human love took. To her greater surprise, she learned how impermanent they were. Friends parted ways. Junpei, Yukari and Fuuka could hardly bear to be near their parents. Even the pain of loss was eased by time. It seemed that no human bond, no matter how fiercely felt, could be relied on. Aigis' self-imposed order to guard Minako had not been erased by ten years of inactivity, but its inhuman insistence and coldness only made Aigis distrust it. It wasn't a human bond. It was only a machine's order.

Eventually, she saw that there was one bond among humans that could not be broken – DNA. Emotional closeness could fade, but humans could not alter their genetic codes. DNA could link two individuals when nothing else in the world could. So Aigis had asked Minako to touch the heart at the base of her throat, corrupt it with her own DNA. Then, regardless of anything that happened, she would have a link to Minako. Because Minako was mortal, and one day, no amount of Aigis' protection would keep her from dying, and Aigis didn't know what would happen to her when that day came.

She hadn't known what Minako would say to that. She had no template to draw from. She had not expected her to cry. Then Minako had touched her fingers to the corner of her eye, then brushed them against Aigis' heart.

Aigis had wished she knew how to cry.

Alone in her room, with Yukari falling asleep in the next room over, Aigis touched the ribbon at her throat. It was as close as she could come to touching Minako's hand and assuring them both that she would let no harm come to her.

* * *

Ken's dorm mates were mostly asleep by the time he came home. Despite the late hour, he paced around his room with anxiety, hoisted his spear out of his closet and went through his drill. When he finally climbed into bed, he tossed and turned, kicking away the blankets and pulling them back up over his shoulder. He finally fell asleep and lost himself in a fairytale dream where he fought to stop Minako from eating a poisoned apple.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

I start towards the alley, holding the apple in front of me, my right hand free and ready to summon my naginata. Couldn't have picked a worse weapon for an alley though – there'll be no room to swing. Suppose I could stab, though the blade's not great for that, or punch with the haft's butt. Should've just taken up boxing like Akihiko.

I'm just screwing around and procrastinating. I shake my head, then step into the alley's darkness. I wait, listening for movement, breathing, or maybe the apple's pulsing to grow louder. After a moment, I hear voices some distance down the alley. It just sounds like people talking, nothing specifically threatening or mystical about it. The apple sits, a wet, beating lump in my glove.

There isn't much I can see in the mostly-darkness, but I pick out the shape of a trashcan. Grimacing, I lift the lid, drop the apple in, and continue on. The voices ahead are just as quiet, and the beating stayed steady, so I don't think the apple's some helpful ker-detection device. (I mean, it must have had _something_ to do with the keres, right? Why would it just appear? What else would it be about? Is there something else running around Port Island and it just happened to throw an apple my way?)

Hold on.

Really grimacing this time, I lean down into the trashcan. It isn't much full, thank goodness, and I grab the apple pretty quickly. I set it down on the ground, making sure it doesn't roll away, then summon my naginata. Choking up the shaft, I step back and make a short, neat downward chop.

The apple squelches as it's split open, and part of me wishes the light was better so I could examine it thoroughly. The scarce light's reflected in a rapidly widening pool of dark liquid, so I suppose that tells me enough. After a moment, the oozing goes down, and the beating shudders to a stop. It also should be noted that I don't hear any distant scream of agony, the vengeful shriek of an approaching ker, or Igor's voice in my head telling me I've done anything productive towards ridding the world of nasties.

So this was all much more gross than helpful. I vanish the weapon, pick the halves up, drop them in the bin, walk away from the puddle and hope no one steps in it. All I can tell is the ker (it was probably a ker) wanted me in this alley, and because Igor hasn't been explicit in his instructions – and I don't have Fuuka to tell me what exactly is coming – I guess I'm going to do what the ker wants. Thanatos is a slight tension beneath my own thoughts, awake and listening.

The farther I go in, the worse the visibility gets, and I put one hand against a wall to guide myself. I pass two four-way crossings, groping ahead until I find the wall again, my hip banging against a crate. The voices are still there, gradually becoming louder. At first I think it's only because I'm coming closer – but I hear the pitches shift, become sharper and quicker. I pick up the pace, lifting my feet clear of a scatter of crushed cans. There's a yellow glow ahead – a courtyard lit by hunchbacked streetlights.

For a moment, it's June 2009 and I'm seeing what might have happened to Yukari, Junpei and me when we went behind Port Island Station for information on Fuuka. A young man lies tumbled and bleeding at the mouth of the alley, and someone's bent over him, glancing over his shoulder at the cluster of movement at the far end of the yard – guys, some my age, some older, all cursing and shouting, throwing elbows and fists. I pull to a stop in the middle of the courtyard. Are they just fighting each other, are they ganging up on someone?

A girl screams somewhere in the center of the brawl.

I angle the shaft of my naginata forward and launch myself. My first slash cuts upwards across a guy's back, ripping through his leather jacket to the skin, and I hit his closest neighbor on the down-swing, catching him on the leg. I'm not fighting to kill, but I sure as hell am going to stop them. I jump back, giving myself room, because those guys, even bleeding, probably aren't going to take this lying down, and some of their friends are bound to help –

Both guys lurch away from the crowd, moaning with pain. But the first guy doesn't seem to notice the gash down his back. The other isn't holding onto his leg. Both of their hands go to their heads and clamp down over their ears.

"Stop it!" one of them shouts. "Shut the hell up!"

No one in the crowd cares, or even notices. I dart back towards them, swinging my blade around, catching one guy on the stomach (dammit, that was deep), leverage more than my own strength sweeping his friend away along the shaft. One guy – the one I didn't cut – falls to his side on the pavement, groaning and clutching his head. The other stands there, putting his hand to the blood on his stomach and blinking wordlessly. He looks over at me, and our eyes meet – I know he sees me – but his expression doesn't change.

"What are we...?" he pants. "What was... What were we...?"

I swing again, bludgeoning someone in the ribs with my haft, and can finally see into the heart of the circle. The guys are staggering away, their angry (eager) shouts changing to moans of pain, reeling, hands covering their faces.

"Dammit," one of the guys says behind me. "Akira, you all right? Akira? Hey, man! Wake up! What's going on?"

A girl lies in the center, black hair tangled, her clothes all pulled up around her. She blinks up at me, her mouth slack.

"Hold on, let me find a phone and – " I kneel by her and touch her arm, though I know nothing I do is going to comfort her.

She stares at me. And smiles.

It's a slow smile, and she keeps her mouth open, and as I stare down, I notice that the inside of her mouth is oily and black. She opens her left hand, and her palm's covered with a mash of blood, pulp and little dark... apple seeds.

I look around the yard. None of the guys are still standing, the strongest of them on their knees, backs curving over themselves. All I can hear is strained breathing, curses, cries and whimpers.

And then the girl starts laughing.

Thanatos roars in my head, shouting her name. I clamp down on the girl's arm, trying to bring my thoughts around –

– and am slammed to the ground, pain splitting up my shoulder, cheek scraped raw on the pavement. With a cascade of laughter, the girl's on her feet – no, she's hovering in the air, black crow wings ripping out of her clothes.

_"Thanatos!"_

It's a release of anger and energy, Thanatos rushing out of me. He throws himself at Eris, sword held to his shoulder. She laughs, and one of the guys near me cries out, a sharp shriek of pain.

The sword stabs through her chest. She doesn't bleed, but black liquid splashes out of her mouth, dribbling down her chin, eyes wide, blue and blank. Then she giggles and pulls free of the blade, whipping away up the alley, more like clothes blown into the wind than a flying bird.

I charge after her, leaping over one of the guys (he doesn't move, and he's pale as a sheet). Once in the darkness of the alley, I crash into a bin but keep going – it's a straight shot to the street, as long as she doesn't go through one of the side-alleys.

Ahead, I hear the squeal of tires, then a scraping, smashing impact. I break out of the alley.

The wet pavement's reflecting Christmas red and green. A van's slammed into a streetlight, the hood folded up and again. Another car lies on its back, just beyond the light. Discord lands on the first car's roof and twirls like a ballerina. A couple on the street, pressed up against a shop front in fear, stare at her. When she sees me, she curves her eyes happily and leaps from the roof, sweeping up the street, wings catching the street-glare.

How am I supposed to keep up with her? I look at the wreckage around the streetlight. Two totaled cars and – one car? Just sitting there? Motor on and everything?

There's a guy sitting behind the wheel, hunched over it, blinking and re-blinking his red-rimmed eyes. He doesn't look over until I've banged on his window twice, and he fumbles a moment for the correct button before the glass comes down.

"Excuse me, hey. Um."

"The hell is going on?" the guy slurs. "There was a – a – "

I glance over my shoulder, then up the street. Eris has stopped, perched on another traffic light, and she waves at me. There's the peal of tires, and a pedestrian lunges onto the sidewalk before the car rolls over her legs.

I reach down inside and jerk the door handle out, pulling the door open.

"H-hey, officer – "

Officer? Maybe it's the blazer. And that he's very drunk. In any case, he sort of bats at my head as I reach around to unclick his seatbelt, and as I'm pulling that out of the way, he changes his mind and flails forward to kiss my neck.

"You sweet little – "

I reach over, put the car in park, then I grab him by front of his coat and haul back. Would've been nice if I could've just hoisted him free and swung him down to the pavement, but he kind of slops out, slumping to the street. Okay. Awesome. I've never driven a car before, but I have the basic idea down.

There's a scream from up the street. Shit, this isn't funny.

I slam the door and step on the accelerator. Lunge into the steering wheel as the car roars, then remember to shove the car into drive. I shoot forward, scraping along the side of the smashed up car and sending my sideview mirror spinning. There's the whirring of a police siren, and I focus on Eris – with any luck, the cops will be tied up with the accident and won't notice anything untoward for a few seconds. And luckily, other cars are wedging themselves out of my way, people shouting. Discord tips her head at me, and even at this distance, I see her give me a finger-twiddling wave.

I gun it. I also run a red light. I also have my windshield wipers on, and I have no idea when that happened. I don't hear any crashes behind me – I can just see Eris using me as her latest instrument of destruction – but most of my attention is forward. Discord is off again, clothes fluttering ahead of me, shooting in a straight line towards the Moonlight Bridge. Dammit, that's going to be crowded. Could really use a Dark Hour right now.

Eris swoops over the Moonlight Bridge, and the next thing I see is the bright bloom of fire – a car's lit up, other cars squealing away from it as it careens into the side of the bridge. She throws her head back, face tilted to the moon. Thanatos growls, and I can almost hear Eris' giggles under it.

The traffic lanes are breaking apart, people swerving every which way as there's the sound of banging metal and suddenly another car is alight. One woman's leaning out of her window, pointing at Discord, who's becoming little more than a white dot in the distance. I wrench my wheel around, shoving between two cars, glass cracking – someone's headlight I suppose – then shoot forward through the first gap in traffic. Passing one of the burning cars, someone stumbling out, jacket in flames. Beyond, the traffic's moving slightly better, people making a beeline off the island and towards the city limits.

A van shoves towards me – I accelerate – and see in my rearview mirror how the van surges towards a sedan, crushing it against the side of the bridge. If there are sirens, it's far too loud to hear them, but I can see flashing lights ahead. Are the policemen going to charge the bridge in their cars? Is there a standard procedure for this?

Whatever it is, the civilians are too panicked to respect it. Another van rams head-on into a police car – glass and metal splatters across the road, ricocheting off my passenger window. I accelerate past the wreckage, fumbling one-handed to fasten my seatbelt.

I'm off the bridge, following the crush of cars that are pushing past the police – there's no way they can contain this. Fire flashes in my mirrors – has another car caught fire? Where is she, Thanatos?

Something – maybe me, maybe him – pulls my wheel around. This street – she's leaving the city? Is she planning on taking this into the suburbs?

I was worried there was going to be some cordon around the city (the first thing anyone is going to think is terrorists on the Moonlight Bridge) but I and quite a few others blaze out of the west exit, splitting off in all directions. Thanatos pulls me north, and I follow down that highway. Wider, further away from the buildings, it feels clearer than the city streets, and I speed, hoping nothing comes along to stop me. I glance at the gas gauge. Oh hell.

Thanatos has me pass every ramp and turn off, shooting straight north. No sign of Eris ahead, no fires, no crashes, nothing. I don't know how he's trailing her – maybe once he's recognized her as a ker, he can scent her. Will have to ask Igor next time I see him.

My right arm slackens, taking the wheel with it, and I'm rumbling (finally I brake somewhat) down an off-ramp, searching the darkness. Distant houselights. The city glare is still close, browning the cloud cover, and I make out mostly fields and trees. I glance back down to the gas gauge.

Oh _hell_. I myself turn the wheel this time, hitting the gravel at the edge of the road, then into the rustling grass. I brake, bringing the car to a rough stop, my headlights spreading glare across a field sparkling with frost.

Was the radio really playing opera this whole time?

I want to throw up – all that fire, the gang, the – I jerk the key in the ignition, thrust the door open, and let the cool air hit me. My skin is hot, sweat beading on my neck. I shift so that I'm sideways in the seat, boots in the grass, and press my forehead to my knees.

Disaster was easier with the others there. I had to smile for them, because I had to lead them. I'm not worth it to myself to smile on my own.

The wind drifts across me, dry branches crackling together. I look up, squinting. The glare extends just far enough for me to see a long row of low trees. I think there's another row beyond, and... is this an orchard?

I turn the car off, stand and close the door, cutting both the interior light and the headlights, standing still until my eyes adjust to the darkness. Once the tree trunks stand out as pale stalks I head towards them, Thanatos' thoughts brushing against my own without ever overlapping.

The wind picks up, branches clicking against each other, and when I hear the giggling under it, it's more annoying at this point than scary. The naginata appears in my right hand and I balance the haft with my left. It's a clean orchard, uncluttered, no underbrush. I can't see how many trees there are, only that they're in precise rows and (don't think I can't see an obvious theme, Eris) possibly apple trees.

An apple – an out of season apple – clunks into the back of my head. I wheel, bringing my blade up and slashing the next incoming fruit in half. Eris sits on one tree's branches, swinging her pale feet, wings folded, ichor smeared across her chin.

Thanatos braces, and momentarily I can see into his thoughts – the entire orchard blazing with a well-placed Maragidyne. Hold on, you agreed to be my Persona. I don't want to destroy someone's trees, I'm sure they –

With a high shriek, Discord launches herself at me, her hands now ending in six-inch claws, straight and sharp. I meet her halfway with a flare of white light, Megidolaon splitting two of the trees and blanching the grass. Eris twists in midair, halting her charge, lips pulled back, fangs glistening through the black slobber. She screams again.

Thoughts buffet my head – dying, pain, loss, doubt – tightening, constricting, leaving me only with the desire to get away, get somewhere so I can calm down, concentrate (why am I panicked, damn her she panicked me, dammit keep it together it's not real _Thanatos_!)

I slam backwards into a tree, heat and pain slicing down my neck, and she's too close, I can't reach her with my blade, but I bring the haft around and bludgeon her with it. It takes all my strength, and I stumble as she reels away from me, wings scooping the air as she rises above the level of the trees.

Blood trickles down my neck. Maybe Messiah is the way to go here, he can keep my strength up while – Messiah? _Messiah?_ I run through my thoughts and Messiah's there, he's one part of me, not separate as Thanatos is. But there's some divider in my mind – I can't touch him. It's just like the few times I experimented with accessing my Personas outside of the Dark Hour. I could sense them, but I couldn't command them. I shift, searching for Orpheus Telos. Just the same. He's there, but isn't responding.

Igor said – Igor said only Thanatos would be able to help me. As if my other Personas don't recognize a ker as an opponent, and therefore won't even come.

Dammit, Thanatos. Dia would've been nice.

Light blinds me, pain rocking me right off my feet – not sure what the hell that move was, but I roll to my feet, swinging my naginata overhead, carving her to the rib, and then I'm splashed with something warm and wet. I spit – it doesn't taste like blood, and it's black – and catch Eris's face on the downswing. She tumbles back in the air, her cheek split down the side and oozing darkness. Skull gleams through, clean and white.

Thanatos launches out of me and grabs her, thrusting his face down to hers and spreading the sharp jaws of his visor, clamping down on either side of her neck. There's a moment's question, and I press my lips down on the nauseous wave up my throat. Yeah, do it.

Her body slumps to the ground and vanishes. Thanatos stands for a moment, the head clutched in his mouth, black dripping from the metal serrations, then he jerks his head around and tosses the skull. It vanishes before it hits the ground.

Oh shit. My head's spinning with adrenaline. Now that I'm out of the fight, pain twitches up my body. I back against a tree and slide down, covering my eyes, blocking out even the slight light, trying to press the headache down. The wind is cool and feels wonderful – my skin's still so hot. It's been a while since I fought like this. Fighting Erebus hurts, but I don't feel so weak afterward.

"What d'you think, Thanatos?" I reach towards him, not sure if my hand will pass through him. He puts out his arm and lets my hand rest on it. It's solid, hot beneath the surface. "We did a good job?"


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

At some point, Mitsuru became aware that she was dreaming and so began to wake. But it was gradual, and for a moment, she remained caught in the dream's mesh, standing in the coliseum, she and Yukari flanking Akihiko, gazing across the field at Shinjiro, Ken and Junpei. And Mitsuru was rationalizing that this was right, that she could not fight against Yukari and that she did not want to fight Akihiko. In the real battle, Koromaru had stood at Junpei's side, but in her dream, he was at the edge of the ring, biting down on the trouser leg of Yuichiro Matsumoto, her one-time fiancé, who was shouting at her to come away, this wasn't appropriate for his future bride – and then his yammering resolved itself into the high-pitched beeping of her cell phone. She reached out before her eyes were open. A glance at the clock told her that it was barely past midnight. "Yes, Kirijo speaking." She listened for a moment. "What do you mean? Shadow activity in – " And broke off, because then she heard the sirens.

* * *

I hear whirring blades, metal in perpetual motion. Words drag on my thoughts, pulling them downwards – _selfish, took the world's fate in your hands without asking first, took all our powers from us when you took the Dark Hour._ The spinning speeds up, light flashing on razor surfaces._ You'll fall. It's all you deserve anymore. It's all anyone deserves. Why are you still trying?_

And my footsteps are echoing in an empty passage – no, there are walls, doors, iron grilles. It's a jail, half-lit and cold, and a voice calls to me at the end. "You don't belong here, Arisato." I'm coming to the cell, slowly make him out in the shadows, leaning on the bars, too tired to even look at me. "You killed this world's last salvation." He presses his forehead into the bars. "She'll kill you for it. You'll fail, and Ker will give you what you deserve."

I can't move and can't speak, staring down at Jin. And he almost looks up at me before the whirring of his ker drowns us both out.

* * *

I'm a deep sleeper. I tend to fall into a delicious coma that I hate being pulled from. Being the Seal isn't sleeping. I'm always self-aware. So now, when I realize that I'm asleep – entirely relaxed and out of it and unprotected – it jolts me awake. I'm – I'm in bed – the school roof – Graduation Day – Shinji – no, wait, this –

I open my eyes. The sky's hazy blue and pre-dawn dark. Thanatos looms over me, staring down into my face. His sepulchers are rayed around us like a fence, and he's got me lying on his lap, keeping me warm from the January night.

I relax out of my surprise and smile. "You are very nice." He tips his head and leans back as I sit up, stretching the tightness in my back – which blazes from all the whacks it took last night. The cut on my neck has hardened over, pulling the skin taut, adding a few more winces. What happened? Right, Eris, then I thought I'd sit down and collect myself for a moment, I had a dream... It looks like it's only been a few hours, unless I slept right through a day. I climb to my feet, wavering a moment. Thanatos must be satisfied that I can now take care of myself, because he vanishes. There's a soft blue light from beyond the trees.

Oh. Cute. That wasn't there a couple hours ago.

I walk over to the Velvet Room and open it. Igor glances as I step in, but he's – he's talking into a skull-shaped cell phone? Who does Igor talk to on a cell phone? Two figures stand in the corner of the room, Elizabeth and another pale woman in blue, her shoulder-length hair artfully waved. Noticing me, Elizabeth nods to the other woman, then opens the side door and gestures me inside. Tossing another glance at Igor (what language is he speaking in?) I accept Elizabeth's invitation. The taller woman eyes me as I pass, her painted lips curving with consideration, but she doesn't follow us.

The room's as I remember it, only this time the hip bath is empty and sits in a corner. "You have succeeded in destroying one ker," Elizabeth says. "I'll be sure to tell my brother."

"Is he okay?"

She shifts her shoulders in what could be a shrug and pulls the Compendium out of nowhere. "Margaret is kind enough to let me borrow this. I suppose you want to be healed?"

_Yes_, I'm about to say, then I look into those chilly eyes. "What's the cost?"

"No cost," she says vaguely. "Only...I suppose you'll be that much more indebted to my master."

"All right then. Yes, please, heal me." And I make a small bow. Elizabeth opens the Compendium and starts paging through.

"Make sure to pick something low-level," a voice says behind me. "I don't want to deprive Souji-sama of his valuable Personas, even momentarily." I wheel around. The other woman's standing behind me, watching Elizabeth closely.

"I know what I'm doing." Elizabeth comes to a stop on a page, then pulls out a card.

"Not Ishtar," the other woman says. (Who's Ishtar? I don't remember an Ishtar.) "He's using that one. You don't want to take her and make him buy her all over again?"

"It would give our master more money." Elizabeth blinks placidly. "Very well." She flips a card out, and for a moment, I see Titania hovering faintly before me. Diarama trembles through me, healing my bruises and cuts, and the pressure in my head dissipates. My clothes are also cleaned and pressed.

"Thank you."

Elizabeth smiles and gives me a narrow-eyed look. When the other woman – Margaret, I assume – reaches for the Compendium, Elizabeth holds it to her chest. "My guest will have need of healing before long."

"_My_ guest is the current Wild Card. He has a greater right to his Personas."

"His time won't come for several months. Surely you can spare this for such a short interval." Elizabeth strokes the book's spine. "It won't be long. It's Theo holding the Seal, after all."

Margaret frowns, and I step away, seeing those two sets of golden eyes lock on each other. The chandelier starts rocking, and I take another step back.

And then Margaret sighs and waves her hand. "What will I tell Souji-sama if he wants to see the Compendium?"

"Don't answer the door. No one said you have to." She turns to me. "Do you feel better?"

"Yes, I – " I glance around. Margaret's vanished.

"If you still have energy, I suggest you keep moving."

"Only one ker down, and already we're running out of time." Don't be petulant. "Right. I'll do that. But – uh – I'm going to need some money. For food and things." Unless you're going to feed me here too.

"My master thought of that, after you left." She reaches towards her side, and there's a deep blue pouch in her palm. I take it, resisting the impulse to open it and count right in front of her. Taking my elbow, she guides me into the main room (Igor looks peeved; I wouldn't want to be on the other end of that phone) and to the door. "You would find some difficulty entering the city today, so I will drop you off inside it." She opens the door. We face the back of a building, probably in some alley.

"You've done well with Eris. Your next target is – " she considers a moment, then smiles. "Geras may well come to you next. Unless he strikes early, it may be his only chance to get to you." And with a gentle pressure, she pushes me out of the room, bows and closes the door.

I open the pouch. 3500 yen. Thank you, Igor.

I'm wary as I leave the alley, but Igor's dropped me in a nicer part of the city. Doesn't make any difference as there are police cars patrolling up and down and reporters all over the streets. A news helicopter whirls overhead. They'll be talking about Eris' mayhem for a while. Just hoping there's no way anyone will know how deep I'm mixed up in it. I step into the first available restaurant, a cheap, Western-style 24 hour place called Sasaki's. It's about six thirty, and the place is crowded, full of salarymen, also a ton of news crew. Everyone's too busy talking about the chaos to take much notice of me as I get an order of pancakes and orange slices and take it to the only empty place at the counter – right at the end. I don't think that's technically a seat, just a window ledge and the edge of the counter, but my tush fits, so there I sit, keeping half an ear on the conversation.

" – was a friggin' ghost, saw it fly right over the bridge. See, right here – "

"That's just a photomanip, it wasn't – "

"Total of seven cars exploded, I dunno, maybe bombs on the bridge – "

"– really wish Risette would release a damn single, just one single so we know she still cares – "

The orange slices are canned and slimy, but the pancakes are divine, so velvety and rich and buttery the syrup almost ruins them. I close my eyes, the better to enjoy the taste and texture, and so don't entirely notice the guttural chuckle at my elbow. But then I breathe in a sigh of satisfaction and I can't ignore the smell.

"Death and pancakes. Oh shit."

It's Lovely, the guy from the bar last night. He's no better in the restaurant's florescent lighting. His skin is grimy, dirt entrenched in the creases, and he leans against the wall, holding a plate of sausages and bacon. He slurps up a sausage as I watch.

"Why do you call me Death?"

"You answer to it." He nods to my plate. "I hope you washed the blood from your nails before eating." And when I don't answer, he pulls a half-smirk that might've beguiled me on a different face. "Call me Harris, if you like."

"You're foreign."

"Even so, I've been to Japan often enough." He isn't using chopsticks. The restaurant provides forks, but he isn't bothering with those either, rooting around the plate with brown fingertips. He snaps up a sliver of bacon and hangs it over his mouth before dropping it in, then wipes his fingers on his jacket.

I look away, trying to reclaim my appetite for my luscious pancakes. "Do you think you have ESP or something?" I bite into my pancake. Still decadent, but hard to enjoy in present company. "The way you keep calling me Death? I'm not, by the way."

"Think things through." He pushes off the wall, giving me a grin as he walks away. "You might be."

I think I'd already know if I was Death. Thanatos is Death, so I can't –

Wait, Thanatos is my Persona. But he isn't me. We've always been separate souls. He created his own identity for himself, first as Pharos, then as Ryoji. It's not like he broke off from my personality.

Except that he has aligned himself to my will, and lets me call all the shots. He's let himself belong to me.

I blink after Harris, but he turns a corner around the counter and I lose sight of him.

* * *

Eight o'clock saw Junpei and Chidori eating at Paulownia mall, Chidori poking at her toast while Junpei detailed all the awesome things she could do with herself in his absence.

(Seven thirty had seen the same two in the same place, with Junpei coming up with a long list of reasons why Chidori should leave the city, the first being the unignorable threat of terrorism. Somehow, Chidori had ignored it, smiling or arching her brows or frowning impatiently whenever he emphasized the danger. Junpei sometimes wondered if, Persona or not, she still didn't fear death. He'd worried himself into silence then, with a strength Akihiko would have to envy, tried a different tactic. If Chidori wouldn't leave outright, maybe he could make sure she'd at least stay somewhere safe.)

"I mean, you can just get an all-day ticket, sit down in a theater, and watch like seven action movies! Or – " seeing her face " – or you could hit Mandragora, do some karaoke. By yourself. Um. There, there's a flower shop by the station. You were talking about getting some window flowers, remember?"

Chidori looked up. "That's right. I don't...know very much about gardening, but I suppose the shopkeeper could explain it to me."

"That's right. That's exactly right! You can spend today learning about flowers." Junpei wolfed down the last of his coffee and stood, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair. "Gotta go now, senpai wants us there bright 'n early."

"But it's – it's so early." She gestured to a window, trying for a slight smile. "And it's not very bright. Can't you stay a bit longer?"

Junpei swallowed and forced himself not to look fully at her. When she got that look on her face, manly resolve evaporated. "Sorry. I – I know it sucks, but I'll make it quick as I can, okay?" He reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "I'll see you soon. Keep outta trouble." And beat feet as fast as he could out of there. In truth, he wasn't aiming to get to Mitsuru's place for another thirty minutes and so technically could have stayed longer.

But there was no way he could've explained to Chidori why he needed to swing by the police station and see if Officer Kurosawa had any katanas left in storage.

* * *

Mitsuru's crepes, blackberry-filled and dusted with confectioner's sugar, lay forsaken. She'd meant to eat them, take a brief respite from the furor of the morning, but she made the mistake of bringing her phone to the table and checking to see how things were going. Never mind all the news sites and their speculations of sabotage or faulty bridge design, and the sundry lawsuits that were being hurled at the Kirijo Group for building the bridge. The elygologists had been reporting to her steadily. She sighed, broke away from one of their messages to scan a news article Kurosawa had sent over. Something about a gang fight last night that had broken out suddenly. Nobody could ascertain its cause, and while the men suffered from bruises and slashes, all of them also had symptoms of severe cranial trauma. But there were no bludgeon marks to the heads, nor could any of them remember what had happened between meeting up in the alley that night and waking up six hours later.

_I was there when some were brought in,_ Kurosawa had texted. _They had gunk on them._

The words were banal, but their meaning wasn't. Kurosawa had retrieved Shadow victims in the past, and they were often marked by black ichor. The bridge and the alley. Two instances of Shadow activity last night. And that other Shadow, Oneiroi, still sleeping in the labs. Had Fuuka sensed anything?

Setting down her fork and shoving away her plate, Mitsuru dialed Fuuka's number.

Her friend sounded tired, voice faint. "I woke up in the middle of the night. It happens sometimes, so I wasn't too worried. But the sirens started when I was dropping off to sleep." A pause. "I'm sorry, I didn't scan. I didn't think it would have anything to do with Shadows. Do you want me to scan now?"

"No, please, wait until you're with the rest of us." The door to her study clicked open. "Thank you. I'll see you soon." Mitsuru set down the phone and turned as Akihiko and Shinjiro walked in. Neither looked better than they had last night. Akihiko was tense, and Shinjiro had come off his night job at seven-thirty, and so had only an hour's sleep. He set his axe down by his chair, rubbed a hand down his face and stared at her breakfast table.

"Last night – " Akihiko started.

"You guessed?" Mitsuru spread her hands on the table cloth. "It was caused by a Shadow. The readers picked it up shortly after midnight. It left the city from the north, passed beyond the readers' range, and..." She sighed. "...presumably kept going."

Akihiko also sighed, slumping into the seat beside her. He frowned at her tray of fruit.

"Koro-chan never came home," Shinjiro said after a moment. "That ain't like him."

"We'll have Yamagishi scan for him as well."

"We're taking that Shadow down today?" Akihiko asked. "The sleeping one? Or are we going to chase the other Shadow?"

"I'm sending some people to track the Shadow with elygic readers, try to pinpoint its location. Then we'll deal with it. This morning, we'll attend to Oneiroi." Mitsuru glanced around the dining room, then nodded at Shinjiro and Akihiko. "I'll order more coffee."


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

"You look tired. Are you sure you're up to fighting?"

To most people asking that, Akihiko would have replied with scorn, but he heard the chiding in Mitsuru's voice so all he did was lift his eyebrows. Honestly, she was the one who was tired. He watched her eat a perfunctory bite of breakfast, dragging her free hand through her hair. Her eyes blinked from patches of dark skin. Shinji, even on one hour of sleep, was faring better. He usually had dark circles and a weary set to his mouth, but the promise of a fight had him awake, and – probably something he didn't want to Akihiko to notice – covertly evaluating the breakfast table, lifting the corner of one crepe and checking for something mysterious and significant on the underside. He grimaced. Failing grade, Akihiko supposed.

"How are your studies going?"

She'd already asked that. He said something along the same lines as before – they were fine, he had plenty to do, he just wished they'd go more quickly. He couldn't tell how closely she was listening and decided to test it with a question of his own. "How is the group coping when you're abroad?"

Her eyes refocused with some surprise. Why not? He paid attention. He knew they'd rather keep her in Japan. He listened to a skeleton evaluation of the group's progress. It was improving from the chaos of two years ago, though hadn't recouped all its losses. Then Mitsuru fell silent, turning back to her phone. Firming her lips, she flipped it open and set it to her ear, probably listening to messages.

Akihiko sipped his coffee. He wanted to say something but he had no idea what. He just had the impulse to act. He wasn't sure if he wanted to compliment Mitsuru for her hard work or commiserate with her relentless lifestyle. Shinji would tell him to just keep his yap shut, that he was always doing this, rushing to girls' defenses, needed or otherwise. _And you barely know Kirijo is a girl,_ he'd said once. _It's the only reason you can talk to her._

Not true, Akihiko could have said. But he didn't. There wasn't any point to explaining it. He got along with Mitsuru, and he didn't equate her with those girls who still sometimes followed him around – or even reasonable girls like Yukari. Early on though, he'd been wary of her, both because she was female and because she'd drawn a gun on him.

But after that gun became a promise of bigger and better fights and Shinji came to share in this bizarre destiny, Akihiko had learned to see Mitsuru as a sister-in-arms. A girl, yes. A girl who could be frightening in ways his admirers could never be. But a fellow soldier first.

After he and Shinji moved into the SEES dormitory, it was a while before they learned about the rumors circulating about them, the sheltered, sophisticated Kirijo heiress living with two scruffy orphans. Shinji heard them first and kept them from Akihiko. Akihiko hadn't heard until some of the other guys on the boxing team ragged him about it. He'd finished a practice, gone to meet up with Shinji, and suddenly they were there, bringing all these joking accusations and insinuations that Akihiko had never even imagined.

Shinji had thrown him a look – a _forget about them, I want ramen _look. Akihiko had turned around. Demanded an explanation. Hadn't gotten a satisfactory one.

It was the first group fight he'd ever been in, not counting the mock slaughters at the orphanage, and he took the other boxers by surprise. Shinji stared at him in a half-second evaluation, then dropped a shoulder, rushed in and evened the odds. Later, they compared bruises over ramen. If the rumors didn't stop, Akihiko and Shinji at least never heard about them again. They didn't tell Mitsuru about the brawl – she assumed they'd been fighting and told them to save it for the Shadows. They never told her about the rumors either. Even Mitsuru, elegant and intimidating at fifteen, had to be protected from some things.

So now, staring at the film swirling over his coffee, Akihiko wondered what he was trying to protect her from this time. The Shadow? That was something he could deal with, at least.

"You look like shit."

"Yeah, you told me that earli – " and Akihiko broke off as he realized Shinji had spoken to Mitsuru, not him.

She was glaring at him peripherally, but Shinji went on. "Toss the phone, leave the group to someone else for a few days and focus on the Shadows. They're the root of this. And get a new cook. I don't see how you're living on this." With a headshake, Mitsuru was consulting her phone again. "It's made from QuikBatter," Shinji muttered, hunching back in his chair.

Mitsuru looked no better for Shinji's pep talk. "Give it a rest," Akihiko said, sudden energy pushing him to his feet. "Let's just concentrate on the Shadow."

Shinji frowned. "You tell me to give it a rest while agreeing with me?"

Akihiko stared at his coffee cup, trying to remember what his thought process had been. There was a knock at the door.

* * *

Akihiko and Shinjiro were Mother Hen-ing it bad this morning. Junpei had walked into Mitsuru's apartment to face a three-front tension among the senpai, and when Ken finally appeared, both Akihiko and Shinjiro sat up and given him long looks. Kid wasn't in his best form, Junpei had to agree, hair tousled, skin pale. He said he hadn't slept well. Akihiko poured coffee and Shinjiro shoved over a plate of fruit.

Talking about the explosions on the Moonlight Bridge hadn't eased anyone's minds.

"Shit, you think I should've left Chidori all alone?" Junpei took Fuuka aside to ask.

Fuuka wanted to say something soothing, that much was clear, but her forehead showed worry. "I don't think Chidori-san will be in any special danger."

"You mean she's in no more danger than anyone else!"

"There is no Dark Hour, nor Abyss of Time." Evidently Aigis had been listening and she came over. "There is no set time for the Shadows to appear, therefore they may arise at any moment."

"Yeah, and – she used to be a Persona-user. She's a prime target for the Shadows."

Fuuka was already shaking her head. "She wasn't their enemy, even then. She wanted to protect the Dark Hour."

Not exactly, Junpei wanted to say. She'd been messed up in the head, not a sadist like Jin or Takaya. Not the time however – the senpai were getting up from the table, Yukari falling in alongside Mitsuru, the two bending their heads close together. Shinjiro passed behind Ken's chair, using one hand to push him up by the shoulder. Junpei stretched and swung his arms out, still getting reaccustomed to the katana's weight across his back. "There's a Shadow waiting for us. We doin' this?"

"Follow me," Mitsuru said with a glance over her shoulder and a slight tilt to her lips.

As they trooped out of the apartment into the hallway, Fuuka lengthened her strides, swerving around Aigis to touch Shinjiro's elbow, speaking in a low voice. All Junpei heard was " – scan – Koro-chan – around Iwatodai – couldn't sense any wounds –" from Fuuka and "what the hell is he doing?" from Shinjiro. Good point, Junpei noticed, looking around. Pooch was AWOL. Never a good sign. In the old days, whenever a SEES member was absent from a mission, that meant serious shit was going down.

But then, Junpei thought, that had never stopped them from continuing a mission.

"You okay?" Yukari put her hand on Ken's arm. "You wanna sit this out?" He shook his head quickly. Yukari pursed her lips, seemed about to say something, then thought better of it. They all followed Mitsuru, walking steadily across the ceiling.

Everyone either stopped dead or stumbled at the same moment, Junpei's arm banging into Aigis. Vertigo swooped through his head – and there they were, just standing in the hallway, on the floor, staring at each other.

Mitsuru lowered her hand from her temple. "Please – follow me. I have a car waiting."

"Did you just – " Junpei started.

"Let's get to the labs," Akihiko said stiffly.

* * *

Junpei saw it as one of two possibilities. Either it was Lack of Sleep _plus_ Nerves _equals_ Sudden Head Trip, or it was Lack of Sleep _plus_ Nerves _multiplied by_ Explosions Last Night _squared by_ Shadows Could Take Over the City Any Minute _equals _Sudden Head Trip. Mitsuru had procured a limo, it being the nearest vehicle at hand which would fit them all, and the limo's novelty should have sucked up all their attention. But everyone was glancing out the windows, eyeing each other, shifting around on their cushions. There were more police cars out, news copters, parts of the city blockaded off. Last Junpei'd heard, terrorists were suspected, maybe some offshoot of "that cult" that had been running around two years ago. Not so far from the truth.

Junpei's teeth juddered as there was a sudden impact, then the limo tipped forward onto its grille, then flipped onto its roof, a thousand centipede legs oozing from the shiny black finish. All of SEES crashed to the ceiling in a tumble of legs, arms, bent spines, and the limo scurried ahead, making for a building to climb up and –

Wait, if they were all in a tumble, how could they see what the limopede was doing?

Wait, what the hell? Limopede?

Junpei shuddered and blinked, meeting Fuuka's wide-eyed stare across the aisle. The limo was right side up, on wheels, waiting quietly at an intersection. And they were all on their seats, staring at each other and waiting for someone to speak first. Ken had bitten down on his lip, red at the corner.

"It's – " Fuuka swallowed. "Dreams. The Shadow said her name was Dreams."

"We aren't at the labs yet." Mitsuru sounded severe, angry, almost as if she couldn't believe Fuuka had spoken up. Junpei guessed she was actually scared. "Oneiroi can influence us from this distance?"

"Is that what she's doing?" Ken asked. "Showing us our dreams?"

"I never dreamed anything like that," Akihiko said.

"She's powerful," Fuuka said to Mitsuru.

"Is she warning us?" Mitsuru asked. "Is this her way of telling us to turn back?"

"Centipedes?" Yukari asked.

"I don't know," Fuuka admitted.

"I dreamed it," Shinjiro said, resettling himself a bit in his seat. He met Mitsuru's incredulous look. "I was eight."

"So...whose was the ceiling?" Junpei asked. "Who dreamed that one?"

"I thought it'd be cool," Shinjiro said, staring at Mitsuru, a touch impatient. "You know. A car. Climbing up buildings? 'Cause I had an _imagination_."

"But why dreams?" Aigis broke in. "Does she think dreams will harm us?"

"Nightmares, maybe," Yukari said.

"She wants to throw us off," Akihiko said, leaning forward. "Distract us."

"And confuse us," Junpei said. "I still don't know what was up with the ceiling."

"That was my dream," Aigis said.

"Yes, well, she isn't going to – " Mitsuru broke off and looked at Aigis. "Excuse me?"

Aigis just tipped her head in a slight shrug. "I dreamed it. I...I'm happy to have dreams of any kind."

"Oh." Mitsuru blinked again, then nodded. "Yes. Of course."

"I guess," Junpei said, "if you're a gorgeous Shadow-killing machine that can do gravity-defying back flips and shoot bullets from your fingers...you might as well dream of walking on the ceiling."

* * *

They were still bracing for more...subconscious onslaughts as they walked through the labs, to the large room Mitsuru had prepared for the fight. She was talking with Akihiko and Fuuka, trying to come up with a preemptive battle plan before they faced Oneiroi. In the old days, it would have been Minako pulling together a loose strategy before a fight – necessarily loose because any given Shadow could have any number of strengths and weaknesses, and they relied on Minako's swiftness in changing from Persona to Persona to compensate for any disaster. After her death, during their run through the Abyss, Mitsuru had reassumed her old leadership of SEES, leading from the front as she once had with Akihiko and Shinjiro. Junpei missed Minako's style. Most often, she'd been able to cheer them on by lifting their spirits, a smile and an irreverent remark. Mitsuru was all seriousness, though Junpei had to admit that she made a guy want to impress her. He sighed, shook his head, then leaned toward Yukari and slung his arms around her waist. She grabbed his face in a hard kiss, ripping his cap from his head.

"Huh?" came Ken's voice, very far away.

_Whuh?_ came Junpei's voice, also far away.

Then he and Yukari snapped apart, staring at each other in blank-faced alarm.

"Are – " started Mitsuru.

Yukari opened and closed her mouth and failed to swallow. Junpei backed away from her, holding his hands in front of himself.

"Whose dream was that?" Aigis asked.

"Never mind!" Junpei and Yukari said, more or less at the same time. Their eyes met again.

"Hold on," Akihiko started, "did you both – "

"C-c'mon, forget this!" Junpei said. "I mean – you know – you know how it is." He gestured to the rest of SEES, more to the other guys than anyone else. "Seriously, who hasn't dreamed about – dreams are weird like that, you know?"

"Well...yes, that is true. I think I understand."

"That's right, you – wait, Fuuka, _you_ understand?"

"Um –" She blushed and looked down. "Well, not about Yukari-chan, but I'm sure we've all – we're all so close, and dreams do have a way of distorting things."

"Dude, yes, exactly!" Junpei clapped his hands together once. "So, Yuka-tan – seriously, you got nothing to worry about. It's all just normal. Completely normal. Hormonally normal." Yukari swiped the back of her hand across her mouth, but her glare was thoughtful. "Yeah, yeah, you see! We do all kinds of crazy shit in our dreams." Yukari stalked past him, muttering something under her breath and throwing his cap to the floor. "Hey, don't get all pissy," Junpei said. "The ones about Minako were worse." He glanced around the hall in the sudden silence, reserving an especially repentant smile for Shinjiro. All three of his senpai, in fact. When that didn't work, he dropped the smile. "Oh come on, like none of you dream anything weird about each other."

"We need to kill this Shadow," Akihiko said – and Shinjiro was already heading up the hallway – and Mitsuru blushed.

* * *

The room fulfilled the four necessary requirements: 1) sturdy door; 2) no furniture; 3) very large; and 4) containing a Shadow. It was also well-lit, wall-to-wall white tiles, harsh light shining down on Oneiroi's glass coffin.

"If she doesn't move," Akihiko said under his breath, "this'll be too easy."

"I almost feel bad." Ken winced as his jaw worked. "She looks so peaceful."

"We already know what a Shadow did to the Moonlight Bridge." Aigis fit her gun to her arm, locking it in place. "We should show no mercy."

Mitsuru turned and nodded to Fuuka, who withdrew her Evoker. Encased in the safety of Juno, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Dreams didn't stir.

"I think I see a...Zio weakness," Fuuka said momentarily. "I can't get any sense of Oneiroi's own skills. She feels... She feels like Juno. I think she's made to analyze."

"She may be able to predict our attacks." Mitsuru unsheathed the foil on her hip. She caught Ken's eye and gestured to her left. He repositioned himself, wincing again. Akihiko kept in him in the corner of his eye.

After a moment's thought, Mitsuru gestured Junpei forward, a move he was not unwilling to make. "We all going at once?" Attacking in waves was an old standby of theirs, four or so fighters moving as a first unit, the rest holding back to provide support and relief.

"Give her more targets," Akihiko reasoned. "She can't afford to focus on any one of us too long."

"It's the best we can do against a scanner." Mitsuru brushed her hair out of her face and squared her shoulders. After a deep breath, she glanced to either side. "Well then." She thought a moment. "Charge."

All but Aigis, Yukari and Fuuka obeyed, the former two fanning to either side. A storm of bullets hit Oneiroi before the rest of SEES was close, shattering the coffin into a fountain of glass. As Dreams shuddered to the floor, limbs splayed, an arrow sank into her side, just above the ribs.

They'd started shouting at some point, but Juno projected Fuuka's voice into all of their ears. "She's defenseless. Get her before she can scan anyone!"

Bufudyne was blinding even in the white room, followed seamlessly by Ziodyne. Junpei threw himself at the Shadow, katana swinging down. Shinjiro buried his axe blade in her neck and stepped aside, giving Ken room for an unsteady spear-thrust that missed.

"Fall back!" Mitsuru shouted, giving them all room to assess the situation.

"How's it look, Fuuka?" Yukari asked, arrow to string. "You think Garu instead?"

Oneiroi lay in a tangled mess of hair, flowers, and gauzy gown.

Mitsuru looked sharply back. "Yamagishi?"

Juno's amplification was precise, and they could all hear the uncertain jump in Fuuka's voice. "She should be dead. You did more than enough damage."

"You said she was powerful." Akihiko was still facing the Shadow, still braced. "It can't be that easy."

"It isn't," Fuuka said, words almost obscured by a sigh. Then, more clearly: "You saw how she was able to manipulate our thoughts. I don't want to see what she'll do if we give her enough time."

"Attack!" Mitsuru shouted, running back for the Shadow. Garudyne was the first to hit, followed by Aigis' bullets. Oneiroi lifted into the air, suspended a moment by Yukari's spell, red and black wounds pouring from her white skin.

Ken lunged with his spear, staggering, half-falling before the blow could connect. "Caesar!" Akihiko shouted, almost drowned out by Shinjiro's shout of "Vercingetorix!" The Personas, one a soldier with a globe and a sword, the other mounted on a horse covered in spinning-blades, struck one after the other, a Ziodyne and vicious slash.

"Fall back!" Fuuka shouted. "It isn't working!"

"The hell it isn't working!" Junpei panted – but he obeyed. "Look at her, she can't take much more of this."

Dreams had lost her shape, unrecognizable as the woman but for her hair and the mess of bloody gauze. Taking a good look, Junpei swallowed, lips together.

"I know, you're hurting her," Fuuka said. "But she isn't dying. She should've been dead long before now, but she – "

They stumbled back, staring at the apple trees.

Red-gold light sifted through the low branches, sunset burnishing the western sides of the trunks, leaving the east in shadow. There was a faint song in the air, ululating notes, thin trills that were so high they almost hurt their ears, all in a language they didn't know. The breeze played through the grove, rocking the apples. They were golden.

"We – " Mitsuru started, and broke off, catching her breath.

A figure walked among the trees; whenever she came between them in the light, she became a flickering black-gold silhouette. She held an apple in her hands – one half of it was pale gold, the other was pale silver – and she kept her eyes on it as she strolled, turning it consideringly over and over. Her clothing was dark, something black and blue that was a bit like a school uniform. She was pale, hair loose about her shoulders and burned russet in the light. Gold hairpins glinted at her temple.

"No – " After a short breath, Fuuka's voice rose in pitch. "This is an illusion, I don't sense her presence." Then – "Keep fighting! Make it – make it go away."

"This is mine," Ken said faintly. "I dreamed this."

The illusion lifted her head at his voice, but she didn't look at him – at any of them, though Aigis had run forward and Shinjiro had retreated, as if unable to watch head-on. She studied something none of them could see, frowning slightly, as if listening. Her red eyes dropped back to the apple, and she turned it over, showing the silver half.

"She can't – " Ken shook himself, as if shaking something off. "She can't eat that, it's poisoned – "

"Ken?" Yukari tried to watch both of them, Ken and the dream. Hearing her, Akihiko also pulled his eyes away, staring at the boy.

The apparition looked up sharply, still in profile to them. Like a reflex, she brought the apple close to her chest.

"Stop it I – I woke up before you could eat it! " Ken had dropped his spear, clenching that hand. "You can't do it! It never happened! – dammit! – Minako!"

There was a roar and the slicing crash of whirling metal. Kala-Nemi tore through the grove, ripping the trees and the figure into gauzy streamers that faded into nothing. Oneiroi lay shredded, Kala-Nemi standing over her, blood splashed across her blades. With a soft flutter of light, both disappeared.

Akihiko found his voice first. "Ken!"

"Is the Shadow gone?" Mitsuru asked sharply.

"Yes, I don't sense her anywhere." Juno vanished. "Ken-kun did it!"

"Are you all right?" Yukari had joined Akihiko in a cluster around Ken, Shinjiro hanging some steps back.

Ken took a deep breath, looking all around him and blinking wet eyes. "Yeah, I – I'm okay." He touched his forehead. "My head doesn't hurt anymore." He inhaled again. "So it's gone, so that proves it was just a dream."

Yukari glanced questioningly at Fuuka, as if she had to know the answer. "I'm not sure what was going on," Fuuka said. "But I never sensed Minako-chan's presence."

"What was she doing?" Aigis had come up behind Yukari. "What was that apple?"

Akihiko kept his hand in on Ken's shoulder. "You sure you don't need to sit down?" A proud smile sneaked through his concern. "That was some attack, Ken."

Ken laughed shakily and shook his head. "No, senpai. I feel better than I have in days. My head isn't so muddled." Mitsuru tipped her head at that, but when Akihiko exhaled with relief, she only smiled.

"I'm glad Ken-san is okay," Aigis said, stepping close to Junpei, though she kept her eyes from him. "But still, I... I was not prepared to see her again."

"Damn, who would be? None of us expected that." Junpei glanced at Shinjiro, still wordless, face grim, and looked quickly away. He patted Aigis' metal shoulder. "Don't let it get to you, Ai-chan. It was just the Shadow messing with our heads."

"But I – " She broke off, fighting the desperation in her voice. "Yes. You're right. The Seal is strong, and we are still here to fight any Shadows. She is safe."

* * *

The newspaper is full of crazy this morning. The front pages talk – and re-talk – about last night's disaster on the Moonlight Bridge, and there's even a brief, vague quote from Mitsuru saying that the Kirijo Group is looking into the matter (ha, I can just hear her saying that). Nothing about the gang brawl that, on any other night, would've gotten attention, and even the things people normally care about – a pop concert later this week, a new species of tree frog discovered, the finale of a soap opera – barely get space on the back page.

I toss it in a trash can, continuing down Port Island's more-crowded-than-usual streets, listening for Thanatos under the surface. Silent. No keres nearby, I suppose. Nothing significant nearby, not even weird stuff like Harris. It's mid-morning, sunny and chilly, and I'm getting hungry again. A little tired too. I wonder if Igor means to let me sleep in that little blue room. There's a bed, and it'd be really very nice of him...

A dog barks.

I recognize it, then tell myself, no, it isn't, I'm being silly. Then I whip around.

Down the street, something is running through the crowd towards me, something fluffy and white and ruby-eyed and pink-tongued. He barks again, joyously.

My muscles pull towards him – I just want to kneel on the pavement and catch him up, he's so fluffy and sweet and Koromaru and he remembers me.

Then I remember – with a surge that's almost like shame – I remember everything, what I am and what I'm here to do – and what I can't do, because it'll be easier for everyone. And this is hell enough without us making it harder for ourselves.

Koro-chan yips, tongue flopping.

So I turn and run.


	8. Chapter 8

**8**

Bad puppy! Stop chasing me!

I careen down the streets, sidestepping, swerving, part-stumbling around people. Someone shouts – oh hell, is someone going to see this panic and think I'm involved in the incident last night – which I am, intimately, but I can't be detained – I have to get away from Koromaru, because if he finds me the others will find me, and even if they don't, I'll have to leave him when I'm done and Koro-chan's had too many people leave him already so –

I can hear him barking. It's not his happy bark anymore either, it's an exasperated yelp, like, _What the hell, Minako, what are we doing?_

I throw myself down a side alley (so many alleys, lately). There's a couple in there and they fling themselves away from each other, giving me a clear path. It's dark beyond, but it should open up somewhere and by then maybe I'll have outrun the pooch.

His barks echo down the alley behind me.

Wait, he's a dog. I can't outrun him. Plus, he can sniff me out. There's no shaking him. I've been discovered.

I slide to a stop, pivoting and slumping to my knees. Koromaru leaps, and now I'm being licked all over, Koromaru wriggling and whimpering with joy, tail raising a small windstorm. Oh damn. Koro-chan.

I'm giggling and crying and my nose is running as I push him down to look at him. He dances back and forth, eyes gleaming, smiling dog-style. Rubbing his shoulders and flanks, I can see that his coat is deep and glossy, and I have to hunt around for ribs.

"You look wonderful, Koro-chan. Someone's been taking care of you? How are – " I stop myself from asking how everyone else is. Koromaru's switched over to sniffing, huffling up and along my knees, stretching to sniff my face, hair and shoulders, tail still going. He whines again, happily, then barks and cocks one ear – he's puzzled.

"Yeah, I know. I'm not supposed to be here." I rub the back of my neck, then smooth out my blazer. "There's something I need to do. Igor – you met him, right? After you saw the Seal? – Igor says he needs me again."

Ear prick, then he's loped a ways down the alley, glanced back and yipped.

Okay. Here's the hard part. "Koro-chan." I pat the pavement in front of me. He trots back over, waving his tail more slowly. Stroking either side of his neck, I take a moment to collect my thoughts. "We can't go get the others. You saw the way I was running from you? You saw the way I was tearing like hell away from my own Koro-chan? You noticed?" He glances away, whining. "I had a good reason."

Deep breath. I settle myself more comfortably on the pavement. "I didn't want to be here. I don't want to be here." I pause, trying to reconcile that truth with the happy tears still stiff on my cheeks. "I just wanted to do my job as the Seal, and I wanted to leave you guys knowing that we'd be all right, even if we can't be together. But – now I'm here, and I've been so afraid one of you would see me, and that would reopen all the old hurts again. Do you understand?"

Koromaru whines again, and, still not looking quite at me, he licks my hand.

"Now I'm – now I'm trying to decide what to do. Now that you've found me." I scrunch behind his ears as I think. He closes his eyes with pleasure, but he's still tense, wondering. "If you go back to the others, Aigis will ask where you've been. And you'll tell her. I don't think you can lie. And then they'll all know, and they'll try to – " I swallow, trying to swallow the hopeful swelling in my throat. I'm not going to accomplish anything if I keep wanting to see them again. I'm dead. I don't have the right to be with them anymore.

Breath whooshes out of me, and I stare at Koromaru until he looks up, lifting his ears.

"That's all there is to it, Koro-chan." This is bad news. I shouldn't be smiling, feeling so light. "I can't let you go back to the others." It's going to make everything harder. "You have to come with me."

Koro-chan lays his ears back doubtfully, then snorts and barks, putting his paws on my knees and licking my chin.

* * *

After defeating Dreams, after sketching out a brief plan for the next two days, SEES had broken up, agreeing to meet that night at seven o'clock, Kirijo taking only a minute to confer with Aki and Shinjiro. Several of them had to make their excuses to their employers, either in person or by phone – in Iori's case, he had to feed some story to his girlfriend. Takeba and Aigis were gone for a few hours. Kirijo was off on Group business, probably running damage control for what the papers were calling the Moonlight Bridge Incident. Yamagishi, at Kirijo's suggestion, was still at the labs, relearning her way around the elygic equipment. There was no reason for Aki to go back to his campus, so he was pacing around Kirijo's suite, trying to exercise the stress out of his system. Shinjiro was just glad there were a lot of rooms; Aki's constant activity had him on edge, so he left to find a quiet place to get his thoughts together. He stopped in the kitchen. Kirijo's cook, whoever they were, was out, and Shinjiro evaluated the bowl of tomatoes on the counter, probably bought for tonight's dinner. Not bad, though getting them off the vine was better. The lemon zest was also out. Lemon zest with tomatoes? Shinjiro put the zest back in the pantry and replaced it with the basil. Then shook himself and left the kitchen.

Ken sat in the small study off Kirijo's sitting room. He'd turned the TV on but kept the sound low and wasn't really watching, sitting in an armchair with a framed photograph on his knees. Shinjiro had seen it before, so only gave it the briefest glance: a blown-up shot of Kirijo and Mina taken in one of those sidewalk photo booths. Kirijo was stiff with pleased embarrassment, Mina was hamming it up. Must have been taken during Mina's quest to transform Kirijo into a human being.

Ken didn't note Shinjiro's presence until he'd gone over to the window, throwing his reflection across the glass frame. He jumped and twitched around just as Shinjiro half-turned. Ken set the photo back on the end table and pretended to watch the TV. Shinjiro contemplated the view outside. The apartment building had a small garden. Workers were clearing away dead branches.

"You don't think," came Ken's voice, "it was real? What I dreamed about, with her and the apple?"

"How would I know?" And he looked over, so that Ken could see he wasn't speaking impatiently. "No one knows. So put it outta your head for now."

"She might do it. Eat a poisoned apple." Ken rotated the remote between his hands. He was cautious again. Killing Oneiroi had done him some good, but it might have opened up new problems of its own. "She's done things we didn't expect." Like going without a word of goodbye.

"She ain't doing anything," and this time there was a touch of impatience in his voice. "She's on the Seal." He sighed, and wished he hadn't come in at all. "She can't be hurt by stuff like that."

The anxiety dwindled into silence, and Shinjiro was just thinking he would go back into the kitchen, maybe throw something together for the three of them to eat, when Ken spoke again. "So you've all decided? You think we're going to leave tonight?"

"Soon as we can, yeah. Aki's itching to run that Shadow down."

"But how will we find it? We only know it went north after causing trouble on the bridge, and Fuuka-san can't scan everything north of here."

"Kirijo'll have that covered." Shinjiro pushed away from the window. "C'mon. What're you in the mood to eat?"

* * *

There was a small, turbulent sea of people in Port Island Station, waiting for various trains, but Junpei fought his way through it to Rafflesia. When he'd called, Chidori had said she'd still be waiting, and he found her sitting on a bench with a pot of flowers on her lap, such a bright white they glowed in the sunlight. "African violets," she called out as he approached. "They require some work, but that won't be a problem." Junpei stopped dead a moment, seeing her smile as she touched one of the petals, stroking it. "It'll be so nice looking over from my easel and seeing them on the windowsill."

"Yeah," Junpei said softly, taking her in. Then he shook himself and offered his hand, pulling her up. She didn't let him carry the flowers, holding the pot close to her chest. "Everything okay? You haven't run into any trouble?"

"No, though it's very loud." She cast a glare at the milling crowd, then up at Junpei. "Are you finished with Kirijo-san? Can we go?"

Junpei didn't make eye contact as he tucked his hand between her elbow and waist. "Um – "

"What?"

"Well..."

"What is she doing with you? We've been here almost twenty-four hours." She didn't say it, but the money situation would soon become a problem; they couldn't stay at even one of the island's cheaper motels, not indefinitely. _Senpai'll probably be willing to put me up,_ Junpei couldn't help thinking, _if it'll help towards saving the world. _

With thoughts of world-saving, his brain shifted into high gear. "Well, you know what happened last night. The bridge, it's wrecked, and people are scared. Kirijo... Kirijo-senpai says the public's morale is suffering so it's even more important for us to...to make the city pretty again. So this just means even more work for SEES, you know? Senpai told us to set aside the next two days." Chidori frowned over her violets. "So maybe it'll be best if you head back home today, and then I'll just catch up once we're done over here."

But she had already shaken her head. They ascended the escalator in silence, Chidori brooding, Junpei waiting. Finally, she sighed. "It's all right. I'll just...sketch today and pick up some art supplies tomorrow."

"No, no, seriously, you should head back – I'm a little worried about things, the bridge and stuff, so maybe you should – "

"It will be fine." She put her head on his shoulder, then raised the flowers so he could sniff them.

* * *

At first, I'm not sure what to do, where to go, now that I'm not only tired, hungry, and searching for keres, but also towing a dog. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a faint blue glow at the end of the alley. So convenient, Igor. Sometimes I'm not sure I should trust you.

Koromaru raises his hackles, but smoothes them down when I scratch his jaw and stand up. "C'mon. Maybe Igor'll be willing to hand out a clue."

Igor smiles when I step in – and hoists his eyebrows when Koromaru follows. "I know," I say, "but it's either this or the rest of them find me. Besides," I reach down to pet Koro again, "he understands."

Igor mulls that over, eyeing Koromaru. He doesn't look displeased, more bemused. "I have met your companion before, and he is most certainly welcome, for the time being." He turns to me. "You have done well so far."

"I haven't found a trace of the next ker."

"No matter. Go rest yourself. You'll need all your wherewithal."

There's no sign of Margaret in the side room, but Elizabeth is seated at a writing desk I don't remember seeing before, paging through the Compendium. The bed lies against the wall, one corner of its velvet coverlet turned down. Elizabeth stands and closes the book. "You aren't hurt, though it appears you require rest."

"Yeah." Should I apologize? Is this her room? Does anyone actually live here, in the Velvet Room? "I didn't get too much sleep in the orchard, I'm afraid."

"I sense a deep change in your friend." Elizabeth is looking past me, to Koromaru. "He resolved himself to find you whatever the cost and searched long and hard. Cerberus has taken a new shape."

"Wha – Koro-chan? You have a new Persona?" Koromaru sits and scratches his ear.

"Laelaps, the hunter who never lost his prey." She smiles at me. "I hope you didn't bother trying to run from him." She walks to the door, and as she passes under it, the chandelier dims to a comfortable darkness. "Sleep well."

There're no convenient pajamas, but I'm only planning on a nap, so never mind. I line up my boots under the bed and fold my blazer over the headboard, squirming under the blanket. Koromaru glances at me, so I pat the bedspread. He jumps in, curling himself up against the small of my back.

"Spoiled pooch. You really have been living well, if you're used to taking over the bed." I reach around to scratch his shoulder, coming back to the same question as before – if Koro's doing well, how are my other friends? I shouldn't ask, it'll only make me miss them. I burrow against the pillow, which has a soft scent I can't identify. Theo said my room was infused with my scent. Maybe this is some scent unique to the Velvet Room. A blue scent. I close my eyes.

"...Hey Koro? How...is Junpei? I mean, is he doing okay? One bark for 'yes', please." Koromaru makes a soft _wurf_ noise. "Is he with Chidori? Is he happy?" Another woof. "Okay, thanks." I close my eyes tighter, turning my face against the pillow case.

"...What about Aigis? Is she happy? Does she have something to do?" Another woof. Thank goodness. I couldn't rest if Aigis wasn't well or – worse – had allowed herself to be shut down again.

"So...what about Akihiko and Mitsuru? Are they together yet?" Silence. "What? You're kidding me. That's ridiculous. What about Fuuka? She's at college, I bet." Wurf. "And Ken? Doing good?" A more chipper woof.

"And Yukari? Did she go abroad with Mitsuru or anything?" Nothing. "Well, is she happy? Have you seen her?" Woof. "Is she the one taking care of you?" Silence again. Maybe Aigis took him in, though somehow I see Aigis as someone who'd be taken in herself.

I fall quiet again, slowing my thoughts and breathing, coaxing my muscles to relax. But the last question sits there in my mind, and it's going to wait until I ask it. I take a slow breath, chest tight. "Koro-chan... Did Shinjiro die peacefully?" I feel Koromaru lift his head. The words come out, though I can't tell if they lift or worsen the pressure on my chest. "I know he didn't have long to live. Was he all right?" Silence. Oh hell. I sit up. "Koro-chan, what happened at the end? Did he die suddenly? Was he angry?"

Koromaru has his ears flat, forehead wrinkled anxiously. In a moment, he springs over my legs to the floor. He looks up at me, then lies down. Still watching me, he jumps back up. Something in my expression isn't satisfactory, because he whines and does it again.

"He woke up, I know that. But what about when he died?"

Koromaru yips and shakes himself – no, he's shaking his head. So –

"You mean he's alive?"

Koromaru barks triumphantly and jumps back onto the bed.

"Is he all right?" Why does my voice sound so tired? "Is he in a hospital or anything?"

Koromaru's curled up again. He dog-smiles and lays his head down. No bark.

He's alive. Has been for two years. He's twenty.

My questions are answered, so I should lie back down. Can't. My stomach hurts – no, it's nerves – no – I don't know what.

Memories I shoved away so many times – a gunshot, blood on the pavement, so much blood Shinjiro couldn't breathe, and Akihiko turning him over, breathing life into his white lips. Staring at the green moon, waiting for it to turn yellow, the Dark Hour to end, desperate to call an ambulance. We tore off our jackets, trying to stop the two deep wounds, one in his ribs, one in his back. He went clammy against my hands, and we kept chafing his skin, trying to keep the blood circulating. The wail of the ambulance, a fearful relief. The cold months where there was less and less to discuss and I was never allowed to see him. And I felt guilty whenever I cried, and I felt angry at him for setting himself up for it, and I felt courageous because he must still be fighting to live. And I kept telling myself I hadn't lost hope. Lying awake, cheek on my hand, listening to the tick of a wristwatch in the darkness, two pulses in my wrist.

There have been times when I've even shoved away my last memories of him. On the Seal, battling Erebus, there have been moments when I've lost track of context and character – can't remember his name or face or how we'd come to be on the roof, only memories of hands and lips and a voice. Then I shake myself, power seeping through the Seal. This is Shinjiro, this is part of what I fight for.

I blink, pulling myself free from my thoughts. My fingertips are cold, and the center of my chest is even colder, hard and painful. Shinjiro's alive.

It wouldn't – shouldn't matter. I made the choice to become the Seal. I left him without a regret.

True. Entirely true.

But it does matter. He's alive. And I know I'd be crying if I wasn't so frightened.

* * *

Deep breathing, and a soft creak. Something heavy is hanging in the air, rocking back and forth.

Gunfire.

The creak again, the twist of cords, a rope – no, it's bloody, it's warm –

Gunfire.

Twisted muscle, pulled thin, blue and red. Blue and red ink. An inky needle, gliding across graying skin. Tension beneath the surface, a heartbeat. Thanatos? Can you hear it?

The creaking again, the breathing – Hypnos hangs, suspended from his spine by pulleys of muscle, swinging as mesmericly as a cradle.

"You think you're the world's protector."

I turn, but I can't find Takaya anywhere, only whiteness and Takaya's slowly swinging ker. It's only a dream.

Come on, wake up.

"But you've taken the mantle of Death upon you. Do you think you can be both?"

Liquid, clearer than tears, drips from Hypnos' body, down his fingertips. Wake up, Minako.

"Or was I always right?" Takaya whispers as I struggle awake. "Are Death and salvation still the same?"

* * *

They had never chased a Shadow this far before. It had always been a question of how far Mitsuru and Fuuka could scan, and their target was always found well within the boundaries of Tartarus or Port Island. But with this Shadow – the massively destructive Shadow of the Moonlight Bridge – having nearly a day's head start, they had to prepare for this taking awhile.

"Dude, senpai." Junpei gazed up, mouth curving. "This would be badass if it wasn't so – so – "

" – middle-aged?" Yukari seemed to have forgiven him for that morning's kiss, because she came up beside him. A smile crept into her features. "I have to admit, it's still cool."

"This isn't middle-aged," Akihiko said, loading weapons and ammo beneath the stow-away seats, katana clunking against axe. "Middle-aged would be an eight-seater. This is like... field trip commando."

"It was difficult to get on short notice, and it'll hardly be inconspicuous, but it will serve our purpose." Mitsuru walked around the black fifteen-seater van, patting its side as she'd pat the flank of a prize racehorse.

"It's not the seats I'm excited about." Junpei leaned in the front passenger window, where Fuuka would be. The glove compartment had been ripped out and replaced with an elygic reader and monitor, which would amplify Juno's powers as they moved. "Can't we mount a gun in the front? You know, just in case we come on the Shadow all of a sudden?"

"Junpei-san has a point," Aigis said as Yukari rolled her eyes. "You will want some easily accessible weapons, should we come upon the Shadow precipitously." She thought a moment. "I will not have that problem."

"Neither will I." Akihiko studied the van. "Maybe we can wedge some weapons between the seats?"

"Don't forget the food." Ken hauled over a crate that was half as wide as he was tall, filled with boxed lunches and bagged chips. "We don't want this stuff out of reach." Shinjiro followed, a crate of bottled water on his shoulder.

Mitsuru, Akihiko, Yukari and Fuuka were the only licensed drivers among them, but as Fuuka would be running surveillance, she was off the hook. The remaining three talked among themselves, drawing up a driving schedule and arguing about how much coffee should be up front, by the driver's seat. Akihiko said potassium-enriched energy drinks should do them fine. Mitsuru and Yukari overruled that statement by ignoring it.

"I can just see us when we pull into a drive-in." Junpei chuckled, rubbing his hands. Sure, it was just a van, but it was a van bursting with SEES awesome. If the rest of them weren't stoked, he'd make up for it. "Road Trip of Shadow Ass-Kicking. Let's get started."


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

Seven hours in and no ass-kicking.

They'd been alert for the first few hours, after getting into the van, getting past all the policemen (who, due to some magic of Kirijo, hardly stopped them) and hitting the open road. Junpei had expected some futuristic blips (or flashing lights?) from the elygic reader, but it was silent, or all its sounds were directed to the headset Fuuka wore. She alternately leaned back in her chair with her eyes closed, listening for Juno without fully evoking, or fiddled with the reader and watched the screen, casting for the Shadow in all directions. Mitsuru kept the van heading north. Last they'd seen for sure, the Shadow had shot north, and they'd heard of no further activity.

"It wouldn't surprise me if it was waiting for us." Akihiko cracked his knuckles, splaying the fingers of one hand, loosening the muscles.

They talked to pass the time, twisting in their seats, trying to keep all their luggage and food from sliding around, listening to the weapons thunk together beneath them. Aigis held on to a crate of ammo.

After midnight, the brave began to drop. Ken went first – Junpei kept poking him so the boy's head didn't loll against his shoulder. Yukari was next, curled up in her seat, cheek against the window, and even Aigis went into standby, breaking out every fifteen minutes to assess the situation. Shinjiro crossed his arms and leaned his chin into his chest, though Junpei thought he probably wasn't asleep. For his part, Junpei munched chips and was careful not to crinkle the bag too loudly.

By three, when Junpei jolted awake (for no reason at all, just that even his subconscious wished something would happen), Yukari was driving, and she and Mitsuru were talking about stopping somewhere and finding some rooms to sleep. As secure as the van was, no one wanted to sleep through the night there. Junpei squinted through the window. He was used to being able to see at night, the city glare distinguishing earth from sky, but it was much harder here. He saw huge dark patches that he gradually realized were mountains. How far had they gone?

"Turn off here," Mitsuru said. "Hopefully it won't be so crowded anymore." There was a haze of murky light to their left – a town, pretty small.

Fuuka sat up. "I can feel something." As Mitsuru leaned forward, Fuuka shook her head, tapping on the reader. "No, it's – it's faint. I'm not sure – maybe the Shadow passed here? I don't think it's in the area anymore." More tapping, then under her breath: "These are very odd readings."

"We should definitely stop here then." Mitsuru sounded tired, but there was a hardness in her voice that Junpei wouldn't be the one to argue with. "We can rest up, then do some scans in the morning."

"Don't push yourself, senpai," Yukari said. "Artemisia's not really built for scanning. Leave that to Fuuka." Mitsuru didn't commit herself to agreeing.

By the time the van was rolling through the narrow suburb streets, everyone had woken up on their own. There wasn't much to see in the chilly glare of the streetlights, a train station, residential streets, small shops.

"They got a Junes," Junpei said around a yawn. "We can restock there."

"Pull over there," Mitsuru said. "Hopefully someone's awake."

Yukari turned the wheel, easing the van into the parking lot of an inn that looked too large for the town. "They'll be awake for your money."

They shut the elygic reader behind the false glove compartment, grabbed the bare necessities, and trooped out of the van, Mitsuru leading the way to the inn's door. The front light wasn't on, though there were several lit windows above. Mitsuru searched around a moment, then found a bell. When no one answered, she rang again. Hardly polite, descending en masse after check-in hours, but, again, Junpei wasn't going to call her on it.

Finally, the door opened on a bleary-eyed – but traditionally clad – employee. Mitsuru spoke quickly and efficiently. Junpei blinked, suppressed his yawns, and tried to stay upright. Almost by accident, he found himself in the building, following the others down a hallway. Mitsuru was saying something – she sounded smug and self-congratulatory. The Kirijo magic again. She should start a stage act, charge admission...

"Wait, this is – this is the Amagi Inn, isn't it?" Yukari's voice. Someone answered from ahead in the group. "Yeah, I know, she came here on that volleyball fellowship. I was just thinking – well..."

The discomfort in Yukari's voice snapped Junpei awake. He lifted his eyebrows and gave her a lazy smile. "What's wrong, Yuka-tan? This place is huge. Don't like traditional inns?"

"No, they're fine." Yukari's arms were clamped around her middle. "Let's just – "

"This is where that announcer was killed, isn't it?" Ken looked around solemnly. "The first of the murders."

"Yeah, like, almost a year ago," Yukari retorted. "It's nothing to worry about."

"Oh, got it," Junpei said. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll give you the room with the ghost."

Yukari apparently wasn't too tired to wallop him with her duffel bag.

* * *

It was 9:00 before any of them were awake, a hazy, frosty morning. Mitsuru came out of the bathroom to find Aigis dressed, checking to make sure her boots were on the correct feet. Yukari had just rolled over, rubbing her eyes, and Fuuka was still an insensate bundle under her blanket. Pulling her hair up, Mitsuru went to the window. Even on a weekday morning, Inaba was quiet. A girl on the street below looked up and stopped walking, staring at the window. Mitsuru stepped away. No point in lingering.

* * *

Aki and Shinjiro were awake before either Ken or Iori, and they made their way outside, the air stinging their faces pink. They traded theories as they walked – where the Shadow might be, the strange elygic signature Yamagishi had sensed last night, how Kirijo would scour the area for clues.

"This ain't how we usually find Shadows," Shinjiro said. "What're we supposed to do, ask around town for hints?"

"We have to stay sharp," Aki said, staring ahead. "Shadows don't go totally unnoticed. They always leave behind traces."

They stopped walking then because someone was standing in the middle of the sidewalk by the inn. It was a girl (Aki braced), a high-schooler with piles of red curls, a puffy jacket, and an orange minidress in defiance of the weather. She was staring up, saying something under her breath, and didn't appear to notice them even as they stepped around her.

"C'mon, Kanzeon... What're you trying to tell me?"

Shinjiro glanced back, following her sight line. One of the second-floor windows. In fact...that was the girls' room, if he wasn't mistaken. He looked at the girl again just as she dropped her gaze – and their eyes locked. She went very still.

Shinjiro didn't realize he'd stopped walking until Aki stopped beside him, also looking back.

The girl stared at them, frowning, eyes intense. Aki glanced at Shinjiro, who shrugged, but didn't look away. There was a strange tension in his mind, twisting, shouldering away, bracing against –

Then the girl blinked and sort of put on a smile. The tension in Shinjiro's mind vanished. "Um – heh. Sorry about that, guys. Um. Are you – ?" She shifted her weight, then bounced a bit on her toes, shaking out her curls. "Never mind. Nice morning, huh? Bye!" And jogged lightly away, throwing another glance at the window as she went.

* * *

Yukari was sitting cross-legged on her blanket, unpacking her bathroom kit, when there was an upheaval in Fuuka's covers and she sat up, frowning at the window. In a moment, she'd stood and gone over, barely taking time to make sure her robe was around her.

"What's up?" When she didn't get an answer, Yukari joined Fuuka. She saw the street, and there were Akihiko and Shinjiro on the pavement outside. And – further down, there was a teenage girl running away.

"Huh," Yukari said. "Wonder what they said to her." She looked over. "Fuuka?"

Fuuka's frown broke, and she rubbed her forehead. "Nothing, I just thought – for a moment, I thought a could sense a – "

"Did you sense the Shadow?"

"No, not at all." Fuuka stared out a second longer, then stepped away from the window. "I'm sorry. I'm very tired."

* * *

The morning, in Akihiko's opinion, was rotten. They were keyed up for battle but had no plan of attack, no idea where to fight, or even what exactly they'd be taking on. Fuuka sat in the girls' room and attempted to scan. Something kept blipping on her radar – that vague presence she had felt last night – but she couldn't pinpoint it.

"I'm not even sure it's a Shadow," she murmured. "It could be a Shadow... or it might be a human?"

"A Persona-user?" Ken asked, looking at Mitsuru.

"There aren't any others," Mitsuru said. "Not that I know of."

"I don't know." Fuuka sighed. "Something about this place... It's like a muddled fog." She bowed her head, concentrating. "It's definitely not the Shadow we're supposed to find. The elygic signatures aren't similar at all."

"C'mon, you can do it." Yukari came just short of patting Juno's skirt.

In the end, they left Fuuka scanning with Aigis to guard her. Mitsuru told Junpei, Yukari and Ken to pick up more food and drinks at the local Junes. She and the other senpai would see if there was any unusual news on the streets.

"Good luck," Junpei said. "With the murders over, I think it's just a boring little town."

"Pretty though." Ken looked outside the window with appreciation. The mountains were foggy and cold. "And I wish we had a chance to go to the hot springs. I've heard they're very beneficial."

"I don't think we'll have any time for hot springs," Mitsuru said, turning a sudden smile on Akihiko and Junpei. They didn't smile back.

"No," Yukari said, coming up behind Junpei, and not remotely smiling. "Maybe that's just for the best, huh?"

* * *

Fuuka might be lost in her searches across this frosty countryside, but Yukari knew her way around a Junes. She sent Junpei and Ken to get food ("And not junk food, guys, we need stuff to keep us going." "Then you should've taken Akihiko-senpai with you, Yuka-tan." "Well, yes, that's true, but I think Yukari-san wants us to pick things we'll enjoy eating.") while she picked up drinks and small necessities. After some thought, she hit up the pharmacy for gauze, surgical tape and ointments.

She was just backing out of an aisle, staring up at the elevated directory, wondering if she'd already passed the aspirin, when she thudded into something. There was a yelp, and a stumble, and Yukari pivoted, apologizing as she went. "Are you okay? Here, let me help you up."

Her victim jerked his hand away and shot to his feet, steadying his cap. Yukari only got a quick look at his face, but she caught her breath when she saw his delicate features and large blue eyes. "I'm fine, excuse me," he said, clutching something pink to his chest. "Good morning." And the boy zipped away, turning the first corner he came to.

Yukari stared after him, a smile pulling her mouth – and she shook her head, hard. Nuh-uh. Way too young. Still, she'd always had a soft spot for thin, dark guys. Especially quiet ones. She looked around her, the aisle full of pink packaging, euphemistically labeled _Feminine Needs_. What on earth had he been doing in this part of the pharmacy?

She hunted up and down the store for Junpei and Ken. "What are you doing here?" she demanded, trundling her cart into the electronics department. And pulled up short when she realized Fuuka was there, also Aigis, standing with Junpei and Ken in front of a TV display. They were in all sizes, one as big as a table top.

"I sense it too," Aigis was saying, head set forward, as if she was preparing to lunge. "There is something wrong about this store."

"What d'you mean?" Junpei asked. "Is the wiring bad or something?" When he didn't get an answer, he leaned down to check the largest TV's price tag and swore. "_That's_ what's wrong with this store."

"Is the Shadow in here?" Ken had commandeered the guys' cart, which was loaded with boxed foods. There wasn't anything long enough for him to use as a spear, but he was braced, fingers tight on the hand bar.

"No, I – " Fuuka sighed with exasperation. "I don't understand this at all! It's like something's interfering with my powers and keeps – keeps redirecting it here."

"Maybe Juno thinks you need to watch more TV." Junpei's humor wasn't improving this. "Oh, I know – Jun_o_, Jun_es_. She's getting confused!"

"Jun_pei_!" from Yukari.

"Hey there, welcome to Junes," a voice said loudly behind them. "Can I help you with something?"

They all turned, except Fuuka, who glared at her reflection in the screen. It was a Junes employee, a lanky kid with shaggy brown hair and a wide smile.

"No, that's okay, we're fine," Yukari said.

"Oh, okay, great." And the kid backed off, smiling. And watching them.

Fuuka had both hands to her head, concentrating, something she really didn't need an outsider noticing. "_Thanks_," Yukari said pointedly.

"You're welcome!" the employee chirped, though his smile was only at seventy percent or so. He didn't move, and he didn't take his eyes off them.

"We're, uh..." Junpei glanced at their two shopping carts. "We're looking for a TV. We'll just call you if we need you."

"The big TV's not for sale," the employee said before Junpei had quite finished.

Junpei, in Yukari's opinion, should have just left it at that, but no, of course he had to go on. "Sure it is, there's a price tag. It's like a mile of zeroes."

"It's not for sale," the employee clipped, his cheer gone.

"The tag says – "

"We're screwing with you. I mean – " And the employee loosened his shoulders, putting on the chipperness again. "It's – it's just a sales gimmick. I mean, that, that TV's huge, you think any TV that big is going to actually _work_? And who'd buy it at that price anyway? But it cost it a lot, so we don't want people around it, so why don't you look at these models over – " And then he shrieked and half lunged forward.

Junpei blinked, guiltily jerking his finger pack from the screen, which he'd been poking. "Sorry! Wha, what'd I do?"

The employee swallowed, then relaxed out of his lunge. "Um. Nothing." Throat clear. "S-so, what kind of TVs are you interested in?"

"Hey, he-e-e-e-elp!"

Yukari, Junpei, Ken and the employee looked over. Across the floor, in the bedding department, the Junes mascot had folded himself into a sleep-away sofa. All they could see were his blue feet, kicking helplessly.

"Dammit," the employee muttered and loped off. "Calm down, I'll get the crowbar!"

"Damn it!" Fuuka stamped her foot, and they all looked at her shock. She was clutching her forehead. Aigis had gone stiff, pupils contracted. Fuuka was a walking Shadow-sensor, and Aigis had rudimentary Shadow-detecting capabilities, and something had hit both of them hard.

"Aigis-chan, can _you_ tell what that is?"

"No." Aigis' voice was slower, less inflected for a moment. "Only that...it is like a Shadow, but..."

"But _not_ and – " Fuuka's shoulders slumped, her breath shuddering. "I'm sorry, I can't do this. Juno's trying to look at too many things at once, the inn, and people outside the inn, and houses, and a gas station, and now _this_, but she can't see any of them clearly, and I – I –"

"Hey, c'mon, it's all right." Yukari put her arm around Fuuka's shoulders.

"Yeah." Junpei hunted around in his pocket and came up with a handkerchief. "You've only scanned at Port Island before. Makes sense that this place would be different. Maybe it's because we're at an elevation or something." Weak explanation, but Fuuka accepted the effort, wiping her eyes and smiling up at Junpei. "It's stuffy in here. C'mon, you'll feel better once we leave."

So they made a beeline for the check out. Glancing over her shoulder, Yukari saw that the employee was back in the electronics section. As he passed the large TV, he gave its frame a pat.

* * *

The town was talking, but it was really only about the murders and the capture of (another) alleged killer, this time a detective who had been working on the case himself. The three senpai met up midmorning on a hill overlooking the town, frost crunching under their shoes, to let each other know that no one had found anything.

Akihiko paced. "We need to keep moving. If the Shadow isn't here, what's Fuuka been following?"

"It may be the reader malfunctioning. The reading has been very vague, but..." Mitsuru ran her hand through her hair. "But the reading keeps reoccurring. I can't help thinking something must be out here."

"We can't stay here forever." Shinjiro had walked off a bit and leaned against a fence, the vista of Inaba behind him.

"But – "

"I agree with Aki." (Akihiko shot him a surprised look; when Shinjiro agreed with someone, he usually didn't broadcast it.) "It's a Shadow. It wants to be found. It'll make sure we see it."

Mitsuru crossed her arms, dipping her head towards him. "You may be right. But I hate to think that if we leave, it'll wreak more havoc on innocent people."

"It can do that no matter what we're doing."

"If you look at it one way," Akihiko said, "we've been in a single location for hours. The Shadow knows we're here. The big ones, the Full Moon Shadows and the Tartarus Guardians, they were always ready and waiting for us. This is a peaceful town, full of people, but the Shadow still hasn't come in to attack us. Or anyone else."

A sharp glance from Mitsuru. "You think Inaba is safe?"

"I don't think it wants to attack us here. If we're going to take this thing down, we're going to have to choose better ground."

Mitsuru watched him, and her expression gradually loosened into a smile. "You're the most impatient of all of us, Akihiko."

"I'm just approaching the situation strategically." Akihiko looked away a moment, hands in pockets. "Seriously. Junpei's the impatient one." And looked over to see both of the others smiling, though Shinjiro had his head ducked.

Mitsuru kept her smile on. "You have a point. We will leave Inaba today, and see if we can draw the Shadow out to a more favorable location."

"Right, keep everyone moving. We don't want to lose momentum."

"You know..." Mitsuru's tone shifted, still pleased but more thoughtful. "This is very heartening."

"That we haven't found the Shadow?" came from the fence.

"No. But I was a bit...apprehensive when I called us all together. It's been a while since we fought alongside each other, and I was worried that..."

"That we'd lost it?" Akihiko fell silent and glanced at Shinjiro.

"I'm glad I can still rely on you two. I must admit, you taught me quite a bit about dealing with troublesome people in our early days." She shook her head, then rested her gaze on Akihiko. "Are you cold?"

"Huh? – No."

"I saw you shivering." The smile was gone, an accusing twist to her mouth. "We should go in."

"I'm fine," Akihiko said quickly. "I was just – loosening my shoulders."

"I forgot how much you feel the cold. Would you like my jacket?"

"It wouldn't even cover me," he snapped. Glancing over, seeing that Shinjiro was watching him: "Dammit, I'm _not_ cold. The fresh air is nice."

Mitsuru reached up, as if about to check his skin's temperature herself, but Akihiko skipped back in a boxer's dodge and she caught herself. "You don't have to argue with me." She recrossed her arms, tucking that hand behind her elbow. "There's no shame in being cold, Akihiko."

"I didn't say there was – damn." He frowned at his shoes. "I shouldn't have raised my voice. Sorry."

Mitsuru also frowned at his shoes, though it seemed to be less personal. "I...spend a great deal of time – directing you – don't I, Akihiko?"

He glanced over, giving her an uncertain look while she couldn't see it. "You mean you push me around?" She glanced up, affronted, which let him smile again. "You just do what you have to, Mitsuru."

"I don't think I – well – I suppose I might 'push you around'. Somewhat. But I – please forgive me if I have been overbearing."

He shook his head, though he didn't explain whether he wasn't forgiving her, or she wasn't overbearing, or there was nothing worth discussing. Mitsuru waited a moment longer on a further answer, then relaxed. "After five years, we're past masters at forgiving each other. True, Shinjiro?" She looked over. "Shinjiro?"

No one was leaning against the fence. Akihiko's and Mitsuru's eyes met.

But only for a moment.

* * *

Shinjiro had made the quick and silent decision to leave Aki to Kirijo's mercy in favor of finding somewhere to eat lunch. He'd learned as early as 2007 that Kirijo had very swiftly gained an influence over Aki, and while Shinjiro might still be able to tug Aki one way, Kirijo would always be there tugging the other way. Shinjiro had only accepted this with time and as his own tolerance for Kirijo grew. Everyone had weaknesses, shit they were scared of, and if Aki was afraid of Kirijo, well, at least she was something worth fearing.

(Truly, and part of him still tried not to think of it this way, he'd been grateful to Kirijo. When he left SEES, he knew that she would give Aki focus and, more important, do everything in her power to keep him from following Shinjiro into the alleys.)

Aki had always been ambitious, even worse at the orphanage – he had to be the fastest runner, the fastest eater, the fastest dish-washer. Kirijo played into that. So intelligent, so capable herself, she just gave Aki a higher standard to measure himself against. And, while as far as Shinjiro could tell, Aki had never gained anything like an upper hand, he didn't seem to resent her.

Shinjiro had his theories. Aki didn't like them.

He'd come almost down to the street, before he glanced back. The hill's crest hid Aki and Kirijo from view, but apparently they hadn't noted his absence. Aki might be pissed later – _Where the hell did you go, Shinji? _– but Shinjiro figured he could get away without actually answering. There were just times where he didn't want to be standing there, watching Aki and Kirijo. And he wasn't sure how to tell Aki this, or if he should. Aki himself had never had this trouble; by the time Shinjiro admitted how things were, Mina was dead, and Aki was left refolding his memories, trying to see what had been going on.

The thought of Mina sent another glance backwards over his shoulder. They'd forgiven each other, but the sight of Aki and Kirijo standing shoulder to shoulder, ready to fight him for the Keys, still came back to him.

Shinjiro passed several viable restaurants before dragging to a stop in front of a Chinese diner. It was crowded, but not uncomfortably, and when a customer opened the door and the smell of food wafted through, Shinjiro decided that this was a cook who knew his business. Sighing, shrugging away thoughts of the hilltop, Shinjiro made his way in.

* * *

Akihiko found Shinji ten minutes later, sitting at the end of the counter. He walked over, expecting to take the stool next to him – when he realized that all the places were taken. He stared at his usurper, a slight guy in a blue cap talking to a big guy with piercings, then frowned at the back of his friend's head. "Where the hell did you go, Shinji?"

Shinji slurped his noodles.

"You could've said something." Resigning himself, Akihiko edged around the counter's corner. "The Meat Dimension Special," he said to the cook (and his raised eyebrows). "I'll...stand."

"Where's Kirijo?"

"She went back to the inn to settle our account. We're leaving after lunch. If..." He glanced at the two guys eating, but they seemed to be embroiled in their own discussion, the small guy gesturing emphatically. "If Fuuka can't find anything, then it's probably back to the island."

Shinji hmphed. Akihiko agreed. It didn't sit right, letting a Shadow go unaccounted for.

"You know, I only serve this on rainy days." The cook slid over a large bowl full of brown. "But you look like you need it."

Akihiko paused as he lifted his chopsticks – what, had he lost weight? – and dug in.

"Aki," Shinji said after a minute, though he looked at his meal, not him. "Kirijo's good at being vague, so I'm going to need you to be honest with me." He didn't say anything until Akihiko set down his chopsticks. "Has she said anything to you about the Seal being damaged?"

"No."

"Dammit."

Akihiko looked up only after a second passed. He wasn't sure he'd heard it – Shinji had been speaking under his breath – and he stared at his friend's profile in consternation. "'Dammit'? You _want_ Minako to be hurt?"

"Moron." Shinji closed his eyes and shook his head, more at himself than anyone else. "That ain't it. It's..." He opened his eyes and went back to eating. "It ain't even like we can protect her these days."

Akihiko took a bite of his own lunch. It still came down to being strong enough to protect what was important. Anything that could hurt the Seal could hurt either of them a thousand times more easily. Anger flared in him, and he took a deep breath to quiet it.

* * *

Mitsuru had just checked out with the Amagi Inn's junior manager when SEES reassembled, Shinjiro and Akihiko arriving just in time to help reload the van. Fuuka was already scanning when they pulled out of the parking lot. As they turned a corner, heading for Inaba's main road, the elygic reader suddenly yowled, making Fuuka yelp and jerk the headset off.

"What?" Mitsuru leaned forward, hand on Fuuka's arm, looking past her to the monitor. "What was that?"

"I have no idea, it – " Blankly, she looked out the window. They all looked out the windows.

A group of kids was standing on the street corner. One of them was the Amagi girl, recognizable by her sleek black hair and kimono.

Akihiko was driving, and he took the corner a bit slower than was necessary. "Hey, Shinji, is that – the one with her hand on her forehead – ? With the pigtails and the orange dress. Didn't we see her...?"

"Wait a minute." Junpei leaned across Ken to see. "That skinny one –"

"He's that Junes worker," Ken said.

"He's staring at us." Junpei almost sounded offended. "And – and that cutie with the green jacket just stomped on his foot."

"Stop gaping at them." Yukari lunged forward to pull Junpei down by the back of his jacket. "They're just a bunch of – _oh_."

"Huh? What's wrong, Yuka – Shit, look at the size of that one!"

"I'm surprised you can get tattoos and piercings like that out here," Ken said.

"That boy with the cap looks familiar," Mitsuru said. "I feel I've seen him in a newspaper somewhere."

"Yuka-tan, why're you blushing? What, d'you think one of them's cute? Maaan, Yuka-tan's a cougar."

"St-stupei! _You_ were ogling that girl!"

"Hey, not for that long, and – wait, is that Risette? Senpai, turn around!"

"There is something wrong about that blond one." Eyes narrowed, Aigis was still watching, though the group was quickly diminishing.

Junpei settled back into his seat. "Ffft. You know, Risette's from Inaba. That could've been our brush with celebrity! Oh well. Nice place. You okay, Fuuka-chan?"

"Yes, I think so." Fuuka still hadn't put the headset back on, rubbing her forehead.

"I agree, senpai." Ken finally twisted back around and sat, looking up at Junpei and speaking solemnly. "That one in green is very cute."

Junpei blinked, though he didn't look displeased. "Dude. You're growing up."

Their spirits were up – a good sleep, the quiet town, and the promise of movement had done them all good - and they continued in cheerful conversation for the next quarter hour. After a quarter hour, the elygic reader picked up a signal, tracking southwest.

"Which is it?" Akihiko asked. "The Moonlight Bridge Shadow, or that...thing you were scanning in Inaba?"

Fuuka's fingers flew across the reader. "Neither."


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

I've slept longer than I thought, and I wake up foggy-headed. The dream about Takaya felt so short, but maybe it pulled more of me in than I realized. Even so, my first thought when I wake up is _Shinjiro_. Not just the name, but everything it means, everything that changed in the space of a month. And I hesitate before getting out of bed, pressing my forehead into my knees. I am not going to be like this. I am going to do what needs doing.

At least being in the Velvet Room hasn't wasted time. Koro and I walk the streets, I listening for hints from Thanatos. Finally it's evening, the city under a mottled pink and gray cloud cover. I'm roaring hungry now, and Koromaru's nose whiffles as we pass a restaurant, wax entrees placed in the windows. (Stop eyeballing the cheese, Koro, you only get cheese if you've been good, and seeing as how you chased me down, you don't get cheese.)

I sidestep into the first convenience store and buy cheese. Koromaru's happy, but it hardly takes the edge off my hunger. We keep rubbernecking past any place with food, and that's undoubtedly why I bang into the old man and spill his groceries.

After we rebound off each other and I land on my butt, apples bouncing to my left and a cold packet of chicken breasts across my legs, I struggle back to my feet, holding my hand out to the gent. There isn't much to see until he's batted the half-empty paper bag out of his face. He's even older than Bunkichi, bald and flappy-skinned, bent so that he's not much taller than me. As I'm apologizing, Koromaru canters back over, a can of tomato paste in his teeth. He sets it down and goes tearing after the jar of peaches, which is rolling towards traffic.

"Nah, nah, that's enough!" The man shakes me off and yanks the peaches out of Koro's mouth without a thank you. One of those crotchety types; the only thing to do is to help him with his groceries as fast as possible and then get out of his sight. No _thank you_ as I pop the apples back into the bag. Okay, bow, apologize again, leave – no, wait.

He stumbles as he steps away, dropping to his knees, bag falling and capsizing. He's already getting back up, swearing as I grab his shoulder. "Hey, sir, do you want me to call anyone? I can – "

"Get _off_, you little minx!" Standing, he tries to put weight on his right foot and winces. "Damned ankle. Must've twisted it right around."

"If you sit down, I could look at it." Akihiko gave me a crash course in that once, the difference between twisted ankles and sprained ankles and how long each ruined your training. "Or I could call a – "

"Give me your arm, if you're just going to stand there yapping!"

What he needs to do is sit down, lift the leg and put some ice on it. Does filial piety mean you don't call out your elders when they're being idiots? Better not waste time arguing. The sooner he gets where he wants to go, the sooner he can have that ankle seen to. He's old, and even little hurts like that shouldn't be dismissed. I regather his groceries, straighten and let him put most of his weight onto my arm, driving pain through my shoulder. Thanatos stirs, and tenses.

Dude. Thanatos. Wait.

"C'mon," the gent growls, pulling on my arm. I walk automatically.

Thanatos. Seriously?

I glance at Koromaru. He's trotting alongside me, and he only looks up when he notices me watching. He's more inquisitive than concerned.

Thanatos, this guy isn't triggering Koromaru's Dog Senses Good People From Bad People Alarm. You sure about this?

"Another block." He's puffing. "You nearly killed me on my doorstep."

I apologize and tighten my arm around him, offering support and trying to gauge how strong he actually is. His back is bony, no fat or muscle, not even sinew that I can tell. Yeah, I'm secretly feeling up an old guy's muscles.

Or a ker's muscles, if Thanatos is on his game.

The man tugs me to a stop in front of a store – no, there are apartments above it, accessible by a fire escape. We clatter up it, the man half-hopping up the stairs. If he's a ker, is he only faking a twisted ankle?

If he's a ker, is he luring me into some indefensible place?

I'm so golden-hearted. I just play along, standing patiently, shoulder supporting him, opposite hip balancing the groceries, watching as he unlocks a door.

"I suppose you want money."

"No, that's – " The door swings open, and I feel my eyes go wide. Koromaru yelps. I shut my mouth, trying not to crinkle my nose too obviously, but – that smell – I can't tell if it comes from food or dirty clothes or mold. Is someone dead in there?

I glance at the old man – old ker?

Igor did say the keres would come to Thanatos, but – old men? – carrying groceries?

"Don't dawdle, get me in here."

I lurch into step with him, crossing the threshold, Koromaru pressing close to my calf. Magazines, take-out boxes, bentos, clothes, newspapers, books, a bead set with a grimy plastic cover – everything is piled up like badly-made skyscrapers, toppling on a low table, heaped on a sofa. There are only thin, meandering avenues to walk through, showing a carpet the same light brown as a coffee spill. Walls are the same and peeling in places. The smell is stronger as we head in, closer to the kitchen area. I try not to think this, because it's probably not his fault – it's someone's fault for not coming over and making sure –

Thanatos' anger rolls against my thoughts, and I glance at the guy again. He's huffing for breath. Below my pity, huh? You want me to just decapitate him now, Thanatos? Another of his thoughts seeps into my own – the apartment, on fire. That'd probably take one Maragidyne, but what about the adjacent apartments, and the store?

Then I get a swift, panoramic, whirling look at the ceiling as I'm thrown to the side and into a pile of laundry and books. My shoulder hits the wall at an angle, pain rocking up my neck, and I land on my hip, books sliding under me as I try to get to my feet. Koromaru is a storm of growls, leaping and sinking his teeth into the old man's throat. The man thrashes, whipping Koromaru off of him, throwing him into a floor lamp. There's no blood, his throat a snarl of ripped skin and tissue. Blackness slops out of his eyes, his shoulders rising.

It's a quick choice on my part, not fully formed, and the force of Thanatos surging out almost throws me forward to my feet. Thanatos connects just as the ker transforms, clothes splitting, skin blanching, white and dry as dandruff. He's spindly, taller and thinner than any human I've ever seen, wrinkles and jutting ribcage. He doesn't fall under Thanatos' attack, twisting his body with pain, mouth open. It's dry and tongueless.

Koromaru hasn't wasted time watching. He latches onto the ker's leg, ripping, pulling up shriveled brown muscle. I back up to the wall, papers sliding under me, but even with Thanatos dispersed, there's no room to swing my naginata. The ker throws Koromaru off again and lurches towards me, claws coming forward – I duck my head, bring up my haft to block, and he jerks it down, one hand –

I open my eyes. The fingers of his left hand have cupped my chin, like the bars on a birdcage. His face is level with my mine, his features all so shriveled his head looks more like a skull. His eye sockets still trickle darkness, and I'm staring into them, trying to find the eyes in the deep hollows. Thanatos pants, but I can't grab him, can't free him from my soul.

There's a long stretch of road, empty sky, empty plains of softly waving grass. My vision jumps to the left – a blanket on the grass, a picnic basket. An old couple sits on the blanket, spreading out food – no there are more people, all old, bringing more food over. They move cautiously, but they're exchanging jokes, wrinkled eyes wrinkling deeper as they laugh.

_Coward._

Sound comes gradually, through a haze of static. One of the old women throws back her head and laughs, thin shoulders bobbing. "And then I – then I remembered I'd left the sugar cubes in my medicine cabinet!"

"You could've just sweetened the tea with aspirin," one of the old men says, rangy with a short thick beard. "It's more than your grandkids deserve, after how they treat you."

"They don't mean anything by it." The lady sets out some plates, reaching to tuck her dark graying hair behind her ears. "Kids today aren't raised as well as we were."

_Where is the honor in dying young?_

"We were bad enough." Another old man is lying on his back, staring up at the clouds. He reaches to take a plate of food, and I can see there are old scars on his knuckles. "Sometimes it feels like we wasted our time, back at school. Staying out all night, running ourselves ragged. We did good, but we could've done more."

Something shifts in my eyes, and I can see that he has his head in the lap of yet another woman. She has wavy white hair and is giving him a hard little smile. "But you were the worst out of all of us."

He returns it with a fond grin. "But you encouraged me."

I twist away – his fingers are still on my face – and I shut my eyes tight but I can still see it.

_You died young. You never had to see your flesh rotting over you, your bones and muscles fail, the world reduced to blurred confusion. _Two sets of fingers now, pressing into my jaw and forehead. _You are so beautiful, so healthy, and such a waste. _Warmth dribbles over my eyelids, indistinguishable from tears. The first old woman – Fuuka – laughs, leans forward to tell a joke about how Junpei used to rib us when we were in our swimsuits, and Junpei guffaws and says he wouldn't be ribbing us now, he'd be clawing his eyes out. _Seventeen years. What can you accomplish in seventeen years? Try sixty. Try seventy. See all the treasure-horde of memories and good deeds you can claim then. _I'm pressing myself against the wall, searching for a way out, unable to open my eyes, unable to see anything but them, my friends, who knows how many years in the future. The ker's silent now, pressing on my forehead, waiting until I thrash myself into stillness, panting for breath.

_This day will come. They will be together. They will be old. They will be so different from you that if you met them, you would have nothing to say to each other. They will be greater than you in knowledge and dignity, they will have lived decades without you, and you will be nothing but a childhood dream, a faded countenance in a corner of their memories._

Pain bursts up my calf – teeth – Koromaru? – And my eyes open and I swing my naginata up, wood shattering ribs and vertebrae. The ker stumbles back, wrenching himself free of my blade. I shake the blood out of my face and lunge forward, punching the blade into his open mouth, Thanatos rushing out of me.

There's a crunch, dry and hard, and then Thanatos rears away from the ker, one leg in his jaws. I force myself to watch. It's not something I want to see, but Death is mine. I give him his chance to do this, so I own up and watch.

When he's finished, both Thanatos and the ker's remains vanish. I've fallen to my knees somehow, shaking and cold with adrenaline. Koromaru presses against me, panting. His snowy coat is flecked with blood. My face is stiffening with it, and blood beads down my leg from where Koro bit me.

"Thanks." Swallowing the hoarseness in my voice, I give him an ear scratch. "You are the best dog."

Sirens shriek in the distance, coming closer. I sit up and look around me. Junk lies toppled everywhere. Nothing's broken, but there must have been crashes, barking, screaming – blood lies splattered. There's shouting in the corridor outside.

Igor? If it's not too much to ask – ?

The Velvet Room appears not two feet from me. I'm really going to regret owing him so much.

Koromaru's hurt worse than me, holding one foreleg up, so I ask Elizabeth to see to him first. I hover in silence as she cures him, feeling Igor's eyes on me. "Which was that?" I say eventually, just to say something. "The ker."

"Geras," Igor says. "Age. Not evil of his own accord, yet humans fear him so greatly."

I look away, trying to calm my breathing. Not something I'd tell Igor, but I felt much more of a rush destroying Geras than I did Eris.

"He was right," Igor says. "They will forget you."

"I – "

He waits, and sees that I can't go on. "It's true that you will live in their hearts," he says momentarily. "They will remember your name, and that you were their friend. They will remember what you did." I can't look at him. I wish I couldn't hear this. "But someday they will forget exactly what you look like, or what it felt like to talk to you, or the sort of jokes you made. They will forget what exactly made you their friend – which of your qualities were their favorites. In a way, they'll forget that you were a living person and that you could have lived to be as old as them. It will become impossible for them to imagine what you'd be like if you'd lived. You will always belong to the past, a past that will grow farther and farther away, and have less and less to do with the present. Their minds will grow infirm, and may break, and all memory of you might vanish."

"Igor – "

"But," he says, "they will have still loved you."

"Let me see your face," Elizabeth says after a moment, and gently pulls my hand from my eyes, shiny with blood and tears. She finger-combs my bangs away from my forehead. "Ugly, but not deep. This will only take a moment."


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

They woke up once they realized they were following a new Shadow – one that kept a consistent reading, leading them south, back towards the city. "It's large," was the first thing Fuuka was able to discern, and later, "It's moving very fast." Typically Akihiko was a law-abiding driver, but today he sped.

Towards late afternoon, as they were closing in on the Shadow, Mitsuru's employees began to report to her, and she repeated their information to the others, one ear still to her cell phone. "No further Shadow activity, but people are panicking. A possible bomber was just found at Paulownia."

"Shit," Junpei said under his breath. "I don't care what she says, Chidori is going home."

"It's turned west," Fuuka said from the front passenger seat.

"Is it making for the city?" Ken asked.

"We aren't going to let it get there," Junpei shot back.

"Please, be quiet." Mitsuru covered her right ear, pressing her cheek against her phone, listening. "Dr. Nakano, what are you – ?" And she cried out, dropping the phone as it suddenly roared into speaker mode.

"Didn't you hear me, Ms. Kirijo?," a man's voice said. "I'm telling you, a Shadow attack is coming tonight, in an old man's apartment above a leather goods store. Don't you have your people on this? Don't you _care_?"

"Dr. Nakano?" Mitsuru hesitated before snatching the phone back up. "Nakano, what's happened?"

"Don't worry about Nakano," the voice said. "Let Nakano trot off to hell. He's not going to be much use to you. None of the elygologists are going to be any use if you refuse to look around and see the Shadows are everywhere – they're attacking, and you are on a picnic with a school club."

"Senpai, what's – " Yukari started.

"Who are you?" Mitsuru demanded of her cell phone.

"No one you haven't heard before. Old friends, me and...well. Everyone. How are you doing, Fuuka-chan? Tracked down that Shadow? Or is your heart still not in it?"

Fuuka shrieked with pain, holding her hands to her head, eyes squeezed shut. With an abruptness that sent them rocking in their seats, Akihiko yanked the van off the road, grinding into the shoulder. He reached over, grabbing Fuuka's arm.

"How sweet. Giving up the chase because someone's hurt. That's a first for you people, isn't it? Usually you're more than willing to leave a comrade in his own blood, just as long as you finish a mission."

"It's – " Fuuka panted.

"– the Shadow, isn't it?" Yukari leaned forward, towards the phone, as if preparing to attack it. "Why don't you come out and face us?"

"You won't like my face," the voice said.

"I sure as hell don't like your voice!" from Junpei.

"And if you're so fired to protect your darling Chidori, what are you doing alongside these bastards?"

"What?"

"Surely you remember all the times they attacked her, hurt her badly? Imprisoned her for weeks, held her against her will. And in the end, only a trick of fate saved them from killing her outright. I suppose you can thank Takaya from sparing them that."

"That's – that's bullshit – "

"You will be silent," Aigis said, focused on the phone, gun raised. "You will stop taunting us and fight."

There was a pause before the Shadow spoke again. "You ruined her life, you know." Aigis didn't react visibly, but her tense silence was an answer by itself. "Of all the people you could have chosen, you picked an innocent child to bear Thanatos. If you'd only been a bit stronger, you could have killed him and saved her from that, saved her from whoring herself to Death. She's a pretty slave to him, but I imagine she would have been prettier if she'd lived."

It was fairly impossible to make out who was swearing, or what exactly they were saying.

"Still," the voice went on, "at least it was_ her _that went, right? It's so much quieter with her gone. And you no longer have to put up with her being so goddamn good at everything. Admit it! It'll feel good."

"Shut the hell up," from Shinjiro, almost more matter-of-fact than furious.

"_You'd_ know something about keeping quiet, wouldn't you?" The Shadow laughed. "What I love is the way you rushed up on the roof in this big dramatic moment, and she didn't even bother telling you she was dying. She knew what was happening, and she just let you talk. Sounds familiar, right? Leading someone on to say all those sweet things without letting them know you're planning to die? I mean, anything goes, just so long as you feel good before you buy it.

"Oh damn," the voice went on before anyone could speak, "and don't even get me started on those Keys."

"Drive, senpai," Fuuka said abruptly, eyes closed with pain, jaw tight. "We're going to catch him."

"Do that little thing," the Shadow said. "I won't distract you." A pause. "His driving already sucks. You should probably call Nakano too, he's wondering why you cut him off."

The voice fell silent then – which proved somehow worse. Junpei and Yukari threw out some shots, as if they could provoke the Shadow back into communication, but no answer came. Fuuka gripped her armrests, eyes squeezed with concentration.

"He's here," she said as they drove along a stretch of forest, brittle and brown. "Senpai, he's here." Akihiko pulled onto the shoulder and stopped the car. They hardly took the time to look around before they got out, nor did they bother to hide their weapons from any passing cars.

"Further in." Fuuka's eyes were half-closed, head cocked to the side. "He's in the forest."

"Is he similar to Oneiroi?" Mitsuru asked. "Is he going to – " she glanced at Ken " – manipulate our thoughts?"

"I don't know yet. I can't even hear his name clearly."

Mitsuru set her shoulders. "We don't know what to expect, but I know I can rely on you all. The Shadow is powerful, and it seems to have – deep knowledge of all of us. Even of – " She collected herself, nodded to Akihiko and Shinjiro, then faced forward. "I once told Arisato that insulting her was the same as insulting me." She thrust her foil forward. "I will not tolerate mockery."

It was the only impressive part of their forward march. Two steps into the forest saw them struggling with underbrush and trailing branches. Even in winter, light barely fell under the tree cover, only stippling the darkness. "Keep going forward," Fuuka said under her breath, still listening to Juno. "He isn't far. And he isn't moving."

"Waiting for us." Akihiko took point, as much as that was possible, holding branches out of the others' way.

"You sound happy, Akihiko-san," Ken said.

"I don't like chasing down an enemy," Akihiko said. "I like one that'll stand and fight."

"What's that?"

Everyone braced at Yukari's words, then looked forward, where a Shadow might be. Then realized she was looking at the underbrush.

"It's some trash," Junpei said as Aigis bent to pick up the piece of paper.

She turned it over in her left hand, the right still cocking her gun. "It's a Key."

"What?" Junpei sidestepped to see, and in a moment, they'd crowded in as closely as they could. It was a picture of one of the Keys that had lead to the Seal, mostly just its outline, rendered in a typewriter's font. It was the shape they all remembered from the Abyss of Time.

"There're more," Ken said, gesturing forward. It took them a moment to distinguish the papers from the patches of light.

Yukari tightened her jaw and strode over to the nearest, swiping it up. At first, they didn't recognize what it was (a ring? a halo?) until Aigis took it and handed it quickly back to Yukari. "The coliseum."

They were standing in a ring now, and they studied each other's faces. Ken's voice was surprisingly unperturbed, though his hand was tight on his spear. "The Shadow's focused on that fight."

"Not your proudest moment, was it?" a voice drifted through the branches. "Though it was probably very cathartic. All you need is a little prompting and you're at each others' throats." Junpei pivoted, but it was Yukari who put her hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. Her mouth was tight, but she gave a small head-shake. "Right, right," the voice said, as if someone had spoken. "Stop thinking all those damning thoughts. You're only feeding that monster she has to fight, you know. You just aren't any help to her."

"This way," Fuuka said, walking to their left. The others quickly overtook her, not answering the Shadow but searching the half-light for a sign of him. More sheaves of paper crackled under their feet, folding up and showing their typewritten pictures – the Key, the coliseum, and several times the outline of Tartarus and the simple lines of a cross.

It was hard to hear at first, but there was a steady rhythm under the harsh shuffling of underbrush. Mitsuru paused midstep when she distinguished it, then picked up the pace. Light glowed ahead – a clearing.

The meadow was overgrown, riddled with dead weeds. There was a folding chair and a card table in the middle. A small man sat, clicking away at a typewriter, his narrow back curved, small round sunglasses slipping off his nose. His hair was thinning, pulled into a blue-black ponytail. The typewriter _ding_ed, and he ripped out a sheaf of paper, throwing it over his shoulder. A new sheaf had materialized in the typewriter.

He didn't look up at first as they walked into the light, fanning out, but he did stop typing. He reached down into the grass and drew up a – a plate? No, it was a mask, held back with cheap elastic. He snapped it behind his ears and finally turned to look at them.

"Stop right now," Yukari said, after her eyes had widened, then she'd sighed and frowned. "Don't play games with us."

"I like games," the Shadow said, leaning his cheek into his hand. He was wearing a shiny plastic mask molded to look like Akihiko's face – Akihiko's eighteen-year-old face, bandage and all. "And you've been playing with me for so long."

"_So long_ is right." Junpei lifted his katana. "Can we cut this existentialist crap and get to the fight?"

Mitsuru gestured Ken and Aigis to her left, spreading them out. Then she squared herself to the Shadow, sword point forward. "If you're so inclined to talk, what is your purpose here?"

"What is _your_ purpose, constantly scratching and rescratching the same old thoughts?" The Shadow reached down into the grass and pulled up another mask, setting it on his knees. It was Mitsuru's face. "It's, like, masochistic, the way you keep going over what you would've done different."

Ken had narrowed his eyes. He'd been standing abreast of Shinjiro, but he took a step closer to the Shadow. Again, his voice was so calm that Fuuka glanced over. "You're talking about our fight, aren't you?"

"Or when she died, one's as good as the other. Or when you got your senpai shot twice in the chest. Or when he killed your mother. Or when Junpei didn't study for his literature exam and bombed the semester." The Shadow shrugged. "Whatever you want to talk about is fine with me, just so long as we talk."

"Who are you?" Mitsuru demanded.

The Shadow regarded her – they had to assume this, as the Akihiko-mask didn't have eyeholes. Then he tipped the Mitsuru-mask up and touched it to his plastic lips before tossing it away.

Akihiko was an abrupt movement on Mitsuru's right, and she only looked over for a second. Then the Shadow had discarded Akihiko's face and put on Aigis'. He leaned back against his chair and stroked the mask's molded cheeks, tracing non-existent tear trails. Metal gears whirred softly as Aigis lifted her gun, sighting.

"My name is Momos," the Shadow said. "I'm just another of the inevitable brethren. You can kill this meat sack – " he jerked his arm upwards across his torso "– but you can't stop me. Not until time stops. Whatever." Swinging to his feet, he pushed Aigis' mask off his face and replaced it with Shinjiro's. "You want to fight?"

"Yes," Ken said, not so firmly.

"So let's fight." Nobody moved. Momos sighed, put on Yukari's face, and made a half-hearted gesture towards himself. "Am I making this difficult?" Mitsuru set herself, balancing her weight, but she didn't move forward. She shot an uncertain look to Akihiko. Momos put on Junpei's face with its wide plastic grin. "Will this help? So... January 2010, I understand, you all had a lot on your minds. You were thinking about the world ending. You were wondering what it'd feel like when Nyx creamed you. I can understand a bit of selfishness there, some self-absorption. But what about afterwards, kids? Well, you lost your memories. Your Persona memories. That explains why some of you hardly exchanged a nod when you passed each other in the hallway. Fair enough.

"But I seem to recall none of you forgot about your angel BFF, right? Your leader? So tell me how none of you noticed she was, you know, _dying_ for a month? Like, getting paler, and weaker, and couldn't keep her head together sometimes? _You_ were the best." And he threw an arm towards Aigis. "On the roof, what the hell was all that? You were rhapsodizing at her? You still had your memories. You were supposed to protect her. Did it never occur to you to call the damn hospital? You see your darling pet dying by inches and you just pull up a chair to watch? Holy shit. With friends like you, who needs Erebus?"

Even as Mitsuru took the next step forward – which was enough to propel them all – Momos had ripped apart, the small form splitting into a thick, seven-headed snake, each head bearing twisted, open-mouthed parodies of the masks.

* * *

Ken did not rush into the attack – as he stepped forward, his head pounded, jerking his equilibrium to the left, toppling him to one knee. His vision rocked in and out, and when it cleared, he saw the serpent wrenching itself around, spines arching, masks tipped back to the sky. Mitsuru backed away, gripping her sword arm, her foil gleaming red, red splattered over her hand guard. One of Momos' heads – he couldn't see which – darted forward, was suddenly met by both Caesar and Trismegisthus.

_Dammit, stop watching – C'mon, what's wrong with you?_ Bracing his spear in the grass, Ken shoved himself upright, squeezing his eyes shut against the swell of pain through his head. _You're such an idiot, always slowing the others down. Why did they even let you join –_

He shook his head, quickly, trying to clear it. His vision went black for a second.

_And you never wanted to save the world. The only reason you signed on was to get revenge. _

He tried to stand, his muscles shivering, fluid, rattled with adrenaline.

_You started this. If you hadn't tried to kill him, if everyone had stayed together, you could've concentrated on destroying Strega. If you'd destroyed Strega, Nyx wouldn't have descended so soon, you would've had so much more time prepare, to understand, and you wouldn't have killed her – _

"Ken-kun!" Fuuka's voice. "Watch out!"

He fell into a dodge and roll, and when he pushed himself onto his knees, fighting nausea, Vercingetorix had swerved in front of him, serrated blades flickering. One of Momos' heads flinched back, and at the other side of clearing, another head screamed, the sound louder than Aigis' gunfire.

Moving as quickly as he could, so quickly his body wouldn't be able to register the pain, Ken jumped to his feet. And pitched forward, spear dropping, hands down in the grass. His stomach jerked up, vomit slopping out of his mouth. He could hear the battle, he could hear Shinjiro shout his name, but mostly he heard the rasp of blades.

_If you were going to do anything on October Fourth, you should have just killed yourself. She never relied on you. All you did was add to her grief. _

He staggered back on his hands and knees, wiping his mouth on his arm, forcing his eyes open. Shinjiro stood between him and the Shadow, back to him, and beyond he could hear Akihiko shouting to Fuuka. Then Fuuka's voice, amplified by Juno: "He's attacking Ken! He's blocking him from his Persona!"

_If you couldn't even help her, what are you doing here? Nothing you do can make up for – _

Something pulled up on his shoulders, his vision going gray – Akihiko lifting him. "C'mon, Ken, lean on me. Just focus!"

Shinjiro's voice: "Get back in the fight, Aki! They can't hold off that thing forever!" The metal was rasping louder through Ken's thoughts.

"It's afraid of Ken." Fuuka's voice. "He's the only one it's trying to stop. Ken-kun, can you hear me?"

"C'mon, Ken!" That was Junpei, much farther off. "Give this bastard a taste of Kala-Nemi!" Only there was a large crash then, something being walloped, so it sounded like _a taste of calamari_.

Ken hiccupped – laughed – felt Akihiko's hand on his shoulder – saw the grass, Shinjiro, the snakes writhing beyond – and heard nothing but the spinning of Kala-Nemi's steel rings.

"_Persona!"_

Shinjiro lunged out of Kala-Nemi's path, the Persona gaining speed, lightning twisting around her, launching a Ziodyne into Momos. The serpent cringed, screeching with pain, then struck. Athena blocked the hit, giving Ken time to evoke again. Akihiko clapped Ken's shoulder as Kala-Nemi ripped into Momos. Then they were running to the edge of the trees, trying to escape as the seven-times-beheaded serpent thrashed, its open necks spitting black blood.

Then the mess shuddered – and was just a small, beheaded man – and vanished.

* * *

Not only do I buy Koromaru and me dinner, I get a cup of butter pecan ice cream for myself. After the fight with Geras, even small comforts are worth it.

I'm edgy, sitting on this park bench at Port Island Station – I hung out here sometimes, so there's a chance I'll be recognized, and it's not the safest area after sunset – but this is where Igor dropped me off. He and Elizabeth didn't give me any clues who or where the next ker would be, only that we were now four down, six to go. Discord, Dreams, Age and Blame have all been dealt with.

Which is their way of telling me that Ken and Kala-Nemi have been doing just as much damage as me.

I stare at my bento and, hungry as I am, am too thoughtful to decide what to eat first. How long did it take for SEES to figure things out? Is Mitsuru leading them? Are they all together? Where – how – did they find the other keres? Do they miss me?

Never mind that, Minako. I nab a carrot strip and start chomping. Koromaru's at my feet. We hit the first convenience store we found, and I couldn't find any small bags of dog food, and I wasn't shelling out money for hamburger, so he's dining on a package of assorted lunch meats.

Koromaru lifts his head suddenly, growing rigid. It's full night now, the shops closed. The theater's still open, people lingering in front. Some guys are hanging by the train station. I tense up, then check myself – chances are prime none of them are Shinjiro.

Wait – hold on. One guy is slouching towards my park bench. I glance to my right – there's a streetlight, that's helpful. But it's only eight or so, it's really too early for crime, and the people at the theater can see us –

"I thought Cerberus had three heads and a snake on his ass."

Oh.

"You're mixing up your myths," I say (Koromaru tentatively lowers his hackles). "I'm Death, not Hades."

Harris pulls to a stop about a dozen feet off, downwind. He's wearing the same clothes he had earlier, and there's a dimly red cigarette between his teeth. "You've done your dirty work again, haven't you?"

I make a show of studying my bento (what fascinating rice) as I figure out how to take this. The fortune lady could somehow see into my future and she was harmless, but then she was often unsure of herself. Can Harris see part of my past? Is he talking about the keres?

"Scootch over, Death."

My head snaps up – I was so intent on the bento I'm not eating that I didn't notice him saunter over. Now he plunks himself down next to me. Not touching, though he hoists both elbows over the bench's back, one hand almost brushing my shoulder.

"You eating that shrimp?"

I pop it into my mouth and chew until I have something to say. "You're blaming me for every death in the world?"

He's still eyeing my bento, removing his cigarette and puffing a long flume of smoke. "You ever wanted to kill someone?"

"What?"

He shrugs. "There ain't much difference between wanting to kill someone and killing them. But I didn't mean that when I said 'dirty work'."

"Then I don't want to know what you _did_ mean."

He has an uneven, raspy laugh, like the laugh is a ball of phlegm bouncing around his throat. He gestures his cigarette downwards. "That's a good dog you got. He helping you?"

"Helping me what?"

"You don't have to be gifted to see the darkness in this world. I don't know if you're more like the darkness than not, but I know you're fighting it."

"I'm not dark."

"You ever have dark thoughts?"

I pick around my bento, coming up with another shrimp.

He laughs. "In the old days, they talked about dancing hand in hand with Death, or beating him in a game of chess. You can't blame me for having a bit of fun."

"Sure I can. So this darkness I'm supposedly fighting. What do you know about it?"

"It's a bit like yourself." He leans over to look at me. "I'd say you were running after your reflection."

Thanatos is a ker, like the ones I'm fighting. That much makes sense. "How do you come up with this? I mean, what drugs do you take?"

Not his brand of humor. He looks away, muttering something four-lettered under his breath. "I know Death when I see him."

"I'm _not_ – "

Harris pulls himself to his feet, stalking away, movements unusually sharp. "You and he are one flesh. You kissed him full on the mouth. You couldn't support his weight and live."

I clap the bento against the bench and stand. "Death, if you'd like to know, was okay with being just friends." I kissed him on the forehead, _once_, because it was December 31 and we both were miserable and had to be brave, and – why the hell do I need to tell Harris any of that? He's Harris, he doesn't know me, it doesn't matter.

Dammit, don't tell me I'm – I'm – What am I trying to prove?

An ugly fear coils in my stomach. I remember it from years ago, when I first learned what Ryoji was, and that I had been his vessel. These things come back, even when I've forgiven Aigis and Ryoji for what happened and thought I'd come to terms.

I let go of a heavy breath. "All right, Harris. I'm Death."

He laughs. "You think being brave enough to say it makes a difference? Shit." He shakes his head and slouches off. "I think there're some shades of darkness at Apple Bower. Give it a look-see. I know you like to keep busy."

"...Apple? Why am I not surpri – hey, wait!" He doesn't wait. I can't even find him in the shadows around the station. Only force of will stops me from hollering _What the hell is Apple Bower?_ across the night. Koromaru stares off after him, then looks at me.

"I don't understand him either." I draw a deep breath


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

The drive home was spent in exhausted speculation. They'd returned to Port Island, reconnoitered in Mitsuru's rooms, and gone their separate ways for the night by seven thirty, promising to reassemble (with brilliant answers, theories and plans) in twelve hours. Only Akihiko and Shinjiro remained, the latter taking advantage of the cook's night off to make a real dinner – creamy pasta primavera - and they sat down to a quiet meal together.

The three of them were arguing half a minute into the meal. Mainly, Akihiko and Mitsuru were arguing.

"I can just find a – "

"How much money did you bring?" Mitsuru cut in, taking a bite of tomato just _so_. "You weren't planning on being here long, so you probably just took what you had on you." True, according to Akihiko's face. "Please allow me to procure you rooms somewhere. The city's in tumult, rooming is expensive at the best of times, and you'll have no end of trouble on your own."

Akihiko was glowering. During high school, it had taken him long enough to resign himself to depend on any small measure of Mitsuru's resources. It had been more than three years since he'd accepted anything from her.

As he opened his mouth to protest, Mitsuru cut in again, voice so reasonable and so very hard. "It's ridiculous for you to hunt around for a room somewhere when I can find you suitable lodgings at a moment's notice. Comfortable lodgings."

"I can just stay with Shinji."

Shinjiro didn't look up from his plate. "If you're going to sleep on the ceiling."

Akihiko shot Shinjiro a glare – it was true, the apartment was small, but he'd been hoping for some backup – it wasn't like Shinjiro wanted Mitsuru paying for his every need either – then turned back to Mitsuru. He was sitting, but he settled his shoulders and seemed to square himself. "Mitsuru," he said, his next words coming with some effort, "I'm grateful for your concern. But I don't want to take your money."

She waved that aside. "It doesn't matter to – "

"Lay off, Kirijo." Shinjiro still didn't look up.

Mitsuru jerked towards him, eyes narrowed, about to speak. Then she glanced at Akihiko, gauging him, and her sternness shifted, became something abrupt and self-conscious. She lowered her gaze to her dinner plate and tightened her lips. She remained so, turning arguments over in her head, until her phone rang. The other two looked over, watching as she took the call.

"Kurosawa-san? Yes. I...see." She watched Akihiko as she listened and very systematically reiterated, "An old man's apartment above a leather goods store. And you're sure you found Shadow traces. Yes – Yes, I most certainly will. Good night."

"Momos," Akihiko said as soon as she set the phone down, "he told you there'd be an attack – "

"When was it?" Shinjiro interrupted.

"The old man's neighbors heard sounds of a struggle forty-five minutes ago. Kurosawa called me at the scene. There's no sign of a body, but there were small traces of blood and ichor."

"Definitely a Shadow?" Akihiko asked. Mitsuru nodded. "Shadows can only be killed by Persona-users. We need to call the others. If one of them did it –"

"Or it was a Shadow preying on a human," Shinjiro said, then corrected himself. "But they don't usually leave blood. And they leave a lot of that dark shit."

"We can't rule it out." Akihiko drummed his fingers on the table, forehead furrowed.

Mitsuru was already on the phone with Yukari, relaying what she'd learned. Neither Yukari, Fuuka nor Aigis knew anything about it. Neither, it transpired, did Junpei or Ken, though Ken remembered that Momos had warned them this would happen. Mitsuru set down the phone and frowned at her hands.

Akihiko broke the silence. "Koromaru?"

"How would he get into a stranger's apartment?" Shinjiro asked.

"We haven't seen him for more than a day." Mitsuru looked up. "Could someone be using him?"

Akihiko leaned his elbows on the table. "To kill Shadows? Who else knows about them?"

"Someone in the Kirijo Group," said Shinjiro. "Unless Strega wasn't the last of those test subjects."

"You mean a..." Mitsuru struggled for an adequate term. "A rogue Persona-user? But that's – "

"You sure it_ isn't_ one?" Shinjiro shook his head and thought a moment. "Koro-chan didn't do it. He doesn't have his Evoker."

"So it's either a Shadow preying on someone or a...an unknown Persona-user."

Akihiko pushed Mitsuru's cell phone towards her. "We need Fuuka to scan."

"She's weak right now," Shinjiro said as Mitsuru said, "We're all tired, we can't..." She pressed her fingers into her forehead. "We can't keep running headlong like this."

"We can't let the enemy run loose over the island."

"Lay off, Aki," Shinjiro said, which won him another glare from Akihiko. "I ain't disagreeing with you, but we'll be helping any enemies if we take them on like this. Let Yamagishi sleep."

Mitsuru crossed her arms. "You aren't doing too well yourself, Shinjiro. Can we spare... eight hours?" Akihiko grimaced. "Five then?"

"Don't ask me to wake everyone up at one," Akihiko muttered.

"...we can probably have everyone back here by one-thirty, and if Yamagishi's up to scanning... She's used to scanning the island, she should have little trouble detecting whatever – whoever was involved in this attack." Mitsuru sighed and pulled her hair loose from its twist, rubbing her temples. "It might... I suppose it might even be that Shadow we were chasing earlier, before we found Momos or went to Inaba."

After a moment, she pulled in a long breath and straightened. "I ask – as a favor – " and she glanced at Akihiko " – that the both of you remain here for the night. I can accommodate you, and I may need you at a moment's notice." Another careful glance at Akihiko, followed by a tight smile. "If I could, I'd keep all of us within arm's reach. I don't like having everyone spread out." Akihiko and Shinjiro exchanged a look. Mitsuru's question was a shade tentative. "Is that acceptable?" She left it unsaid, that this way there would be no exchange of money.

Shinjiro shrugged, so small it was like he didn't want anyone to notice.

"It makes sense to stick close," Akihiko said, straightening his fingers.

Mitsuru sat tense a moment longer, as if waiting for some qualifier, then smiled. "_Merveilleux_." She stood. "I'll see to your accommodations." And left, her strides businesslike.

Shinjiro looked over at Akihiko, who was still studying his hands, frowning, his dinner half-eaten. With a snort, Shinjiro leaned over and took away the plate.

* * *

Their accommodations wound up being a futon in the study and the couch in the sitting room. Shinjiro took to the study soon after dinner in an effort to reclaim some of the sleep he'd lost over the last two days. Akihiko, despite Mitsuru's insistence that the maid was supposed to do it, washed the dishes, and the maid flashed him a lip-pucker as she left for the night.

After he was finished, Akihiko found Mitsuru pacing in the sitting room, phone to her ear, arguing with one of her employees about the Moonlight Bridge. Akihiko sat on the edge of the sofa and turned on the TV at low volume, clicking past shots of the bridge, commercials, some pop idol's tour, an action movie. Within ten minutes, Mitsuru had hung up on her first call and taken two more. Akihiko looked over when he realized she'd been silent for a long time. She was perched cross-legged in an easy chair, her phone open to receive its next call. Her eyes were closed, but her posture hadn't relaxed.

"What are they calling about?"

At first, she just shook her head. Then she opened her eyes and dragged into a weary account of everything that had been happening within the group, the panic, the finger-pointing, trying to shield most of it from the media. Akihiko flicked through the channels as he listened, but he didn't watch much. When Mitsuru fell quiet again, he studied her. "If you're going to let Fuuka rest, you should get some rest yourself."

Mitsuru's eyes were closed again. "Yamagishi isn't head of the Kirijo Group."

"You can't be a good leader if you're exhausted." When he saw that didn't move her, he shifted in his seat. "Yukari'd say the same thing. Hell, she'd've dragged you into your room by now." He contemplated the remote for a long space, then set it down with a _click_ and held out his hand.

Mitsuru had opened her eyes at the sound, and now she frowned quizzically at his palm.

"Give me your phone."

Mitsuru's fingers tightened reflexively on the phone.

"I'll deal with anyone who calls. Get some sleep."

"You aren't head of the Kirijo Group either."

"I can field calls while you get some rest. It sounds like they're mostly reporting back to you."

"Yes, but you aren't qualified to make any decisions in my absence –"

"I'll save all the calls and you can look at them in the morning." More persuasively than his words, he kept his hand out.

Mitsuru turned the phone over in her fingers. Eventually, a small, doubtful smile pinched the corner of her mouth. She passed the phone over, but she didn't get up and leave, instead crossing her arms on her stomach, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. "Wake me if someone's trying to sell the company."

She couldn't see it, but Akihiko saluted her with the cell phone.

* * *

"Hey – hey, hold on, excuse me – do you know about Apple Bower?"

The guy stares at my hand, which I've latched onto his upper arm, like he's never seen one before, then blinks. "Huh? What?"

I really shouldn't grab people just as they're heading into the All Night Karaoke Hut, but what else am I going to do, hire a plane to sky-write my question across the city? This guy is victim number fifty-three, I think, though I lost count when I decided to leave the train station and head towards the nearest arcade for answers. "I'm sorry, but I'm looking for a place called Apple Bower. Have you heard of it?"

He's already glancing ahead – I probably dragged him away from his friends, but at least he's younger than me, so he tries to be polite – "It's, uh, it's a restaurant. It's like, right near the hospital."

Great, catch and release. I wave my thanks and head off at a jog. I'll need to find a bus, but at least I know the hospital area pretty well. A restaurant. Huh. I'd figured it was either that or somewhere along Shirakawa.

Thanatos isn't picking up any signal by the time I step off the bus. It's a cloudy night, murky from the streetlights, and I have a feeling it'll be snowing before long. There are fewer people than I'm used to out on the streets, and they're talkative and jerky, trading information on terrorists, secret government plots, and religious fanatics.

But Apple Bower, a golden-lit restaurant in the middle of an upscale block of shops, is packed, and I can hear laughter and sweet, upbeat music from the street. There's a stream of people heading in and out, which is good news, and several hosts waiting by the front podium, which isn't so great.

"Koro-chan." He looks up, eyes shining with excitement. "Think you can sneak in? Like, hide under someone's long coat and meet me in there." He lays his ears back. "Hey, I've found keres in weirder places. Harris might be onto something." Or on something. "Think you can do it?" He dog-grins. Okay then.

One of the hosts, glimmering with good business and big tips, smiles when I come in. "Welcome to Apple Bower, miss. How many in your party?"

Uh. "I'd like a table for two. I'm expecting to meet someone." The way these things seem to go, the ker could sit down across from me and start discussing what appetizers we should get.

The host leads me a swift, winding path through hordes of customers, mostly tourists, all talking and laughing. The light's luscious in here, the walls paneled with dark fake wood, fake leafy vines and clusters of apples coiled around the chandeliers and the high backs of chairs and booths. There's a false fireplace at one end, a mosaic of an apple tree at the other. The host puts me at a small table in a dim corner with soft lighting and a hanging plant – a date table. He even whips out a lighter and coaxes the small table votive to life before handing me a menu and saying my server will be here in a moment.

I snap the menu open, trying to take stock of my surroundings out of the corner of my eye. Okay, possible keres, possible keres... The diners look unremarkable, chattering, all intent on each other. No suspicious shadows lurking on the walls, nothing out of place, no – Whoa, what _are_ these prices? Good thing I'm not hungry. Though...that entrée with the...the tempura and...lemony garlicky dipping sauce... and...oh, look, a dessert menu... blood orange gelato with cinnamon... puffy petite tortes with creamy chocolate and raspberry ganache... oh no...

In a moment, something soft and warm brushes against my calf, then settles itself across my feet. Good boy. If he's smooth enough to sneak in, maybe he's smooth enough to snag me something off a dessert cart?

It's nine thirty-five when my server first arrives and asks if I've decided on a drink, and I smile him off without ordering. By quarter to ten, there's no sign of a ker and I am compelled to order a glass of water, which is free. By ten-fifteen, my server is casting pointed looks at the empty seat opposite me, and I break down and order the cheapest appetizer I can find, which is this really lame ramaki. I nurse that along for another forty-five minutes, passing the occasional bacon scrap down to Koromaru. When I next see my server, he mentions that the Bower closes at midnight. I nod, smile, mentally count through my remaining yen, and then order the smallest dish of blood orange gelato. Because, you know, the menu says it's authentically Italian, and I've never had gelato before, and seeing as I'm the Seal, this is probably my last chance. The server raises his eyebrows, but doesn't comment on the fact that I totally skipped over my main course and went straight for dessert. I feel Koromaru sigh against my leg. There's nothing a dog can enjoy about gelato.

I've kept my eye out for anything unusual, but Igor didn't hand me the slightest clue about the next ker. It could be anywhere, or anything. So I just keep watching, letting the gelato melt in my mouth, watching diners leaning towards each other, smiling, showing teeth, men making expansive gestures, women in low-cut shirts. The light's warm as a blanket, all the chatter sewn up by the piped music, which is pretty but in a language I don't recognize. It's a totally different world from the rest of the city, dark, cold, scared and glancing over its shoulder.

The ker, if it's here, has had plenty of time to notice me. I listen for Thanatos – he's there, tensed under my heartbeat. He's ready. He at least seems certain that something's going to happen.

There's an old-fashioned, spindle-handed clock over the fireplace, and when it's reached quarter to midnight and my gelato is a small red puddle in the bottom of its dish, I whisper "Keep hid" to Koromaru and get up, making for the back of the restaurant. The women's bathroom is spacious and almost as social as the restaurant itself, everyone still talking. I squeeze in front of the mirror and play with my hair, stalling for time.

As far as I can guess, it's five to midnight by the time I'm the only one in the bathroom. I hang out by the sinks, tapping my feet, trying to fight down impatience, and cringe onto my tiptoes when I notice a cockroach nosing along one wall. It's probably twelve fifteen when the door opens. I flatten myself behind it and slip out as an employee starts to clean, scooting into the dining room and ducking under a table with a long dusty skirt. Someone starts vacuuming, but they concentrate on the aisles, never coming within a yard of my table. Hope Koro's found somewhere to stash himself.

I think it's 2028 by the time the Bower's locked up. But when I squirm out from under and twist around to look at the clock – and stare and stare until finally my eyes adjust and I can see black shapes and somewhat black-blue-gray shapes – it's almost quarter to two. There's a scuffling across the dining area, and then white fluff pops out of the darkness. Looks like Koro found a decorative urn to hide in. I stand and stretch, pulling through my legs and back, swinging my arms. "Okay then. Is anything going to happen?"

About then, the music starts up again, very softly.

* * *

Mitsuru's cell had buzzed only twice. Akihiko handled the calls and spent the remainder of the time watching the soundless TV. The glare hurt his eyes after awhile, and he sometimes tracked around the room, focusing on the pictures on the dark walls, the floor, or Mitsuru herself, sitting with her hair in her face and her chin tucked against her throat. And then he'd jerked his gaze away back to the too-bright television, neither liking nor analyzing the guilty feeling in his stomach.

As the clock crept towards quarter to one, he wondered if he should wake Mitsuru, and how. He'd just settled on saying her name, plain and simple, when she straightened, blinking and failing to hide a yawn.

By one, Shinji had dragged himself out of the study, Akihiko was putting on coffee, and Mitsuru was breaking the news to the rest of SEES, asking everyone to leave their warm beds and come back for action. Akihiko passed Mitsuru as she argued into her phone, and he could pick up, just at the edge of his hearing, Junpei's voice. "I'm sorry," Mitsuru said, not sounding sorry. "Leave her a note. You need to be here."

Junpei turned out to be the first to arrive, showing up with a wry, weary grimace. By one thirty, they were all assembled, the incredulity, complaints and weary eye-blinks had passed, and Mitsuru told them what she had conjectured – there was another Persona-user.

"Shit." Junpei's eyes had widened, and he looked around at the others. "Guys, we – we never did see Takaya die. Do you think...?"

Mitsuru, who had been pacing, stopped dead. "I didn't even consider that. I assumed that he – "

"Never mind if it is," Junpei cut in, fists tight. "If it's him, then I'll get another chance to tell him what I think of him."

"Give me a chance too," Ken said.

"We'll know in a moment." Yukari nodded to Fuuka. "If the Persona-user's nearby, you'll find him."

Fuuka took a deep breath, touched her Evoker to her temple, and fired.

* * *

It's the same music the restaurant was playing while it was open, only clearer now, all of its harmonies and syncopation stripped away so that it's only women's voices, still singing high in some foreign language. A warm light breaks across the floor boards, and when I glance over to find its source, I see there isn't one. It's just light, stretching towards... that apple tree mosaic.

And to think that I used to love apples.

The mosaic quivers as I walk towards it, as if there's a sheen of water lying over it. Then it blazes and elongates, drooping forward out of the wall, the music swelling, so high it almost hurts my ears. All the chips and tiles smooth into golden bark, and the bark melts easily into skin, thighs and stomachs until the tree's three largest branches have taken the shape of women, their long golden-red hair flowing down. The branches drip with round gold apples. Light hovers around them, warm and amber as sunset.

Thanatos growls in my thoughts.

"You're keres, right?" Might as well be sure. I've got my naginata tipped down, ready for the first swing.

The singing shivers away, and the central figure smiles, her eyes closed. All their eyes are closed. "We are the Hesperides, daughters of the evening."

Another one – the second...Hesperis, I guess...twists her neck around to face me. "What do you wish to know?"

"Uh – nothing." I shift my weight. "I'm here to kill you."

"It's our brother," the third Hesperis says, in a lower voice. "Death, come to visit. Death and Dalliance. They won't do well together."

"What do you wish to know?" the second one asks again, a bit more insistent.

I glance at Koromaru. His hackles are puffed up, elbows bent; he's just waiting for my signal before he picks a throat to leap for. "You three answer questions?"

"We can," the second one says. And she reaches a smooth arm around to pluck an apple. She holds it a moment, then tosses it to me, light flashing across it.

Reflexively, my right hand leaves the naginata and catches the apple. I turn it over in my fingers while trying to keep an eye on the Hesperides. The apple's silky, sleek, almost like a warm, soft metal. One side is as gold as the rest of the apples, but the other side is pale silver.

It's pretty, but – "No. I don't have any questions." When they don't answer, I smile. "Just here to fight."

"Well..." The central Hesperis draws the word out, her voice momentarily taking on the same high sweetness of the song. "We are here for your inquiry. We will answer the question you are so reluctant to ask."

I frown, and actually take a moment to study my thoughts. Reluctant? I'm not... I just want to fight them and get things over with and back to the Seal...

"Great Seal," the third Hesperis says, and with a shiver I know she's ignoring Thanatos and speaking only to me. "What are you doing here?"

"Killing you?"

"Your mission is noble," the second says, shaking her head so that her hair ripples. "We bring no good to this world, only mindless indolence. Only the security of pleasure, untempered by the demands of reality."

"You do well to kill us," the central one says. "But you should have done it from the Seal."

"What? But Igor said – "

"Trust in your own power," the central Hesperis says. "You have left your friend to guard the Seal in your absence, caused him great pain, and let the world's fate hang on his ability to repel Erebus. And..." She sways in a breeze I can't feel. "...if you are found by your old friends, you will open yourself to all the dangers of the world."

I glance at Koromaru. His ears are back.

"Look, I - " I shove away thoughts of Theo. He can hold on a while longer, he has to.

"You've killed two keres," the third says. "With our deaths, three. Your friends have killed two. Only five remain. Your friends are strong enough to overwhelm them."

"But I – "

"Igor's wishes may not be your own. You have the power to circumvent him."

I glance at the apple.

"One bite of the silver, and you will return to the Seal, restore the world to its safety, and leave the keres in capable hands. No more of your friends will see you, and you will all be secure."

* * *

With a soft glow of energy, Juno formed around Fuuka. She bowed her head, concentrating.

"Any sign?" Akihiko asked.

"Yes... there's a Shadow." Fuuka's pitch rose with tension. "It's powerful, like Oneiroi and Momos. And I sense – two Persona-users?"

"Two?" Junpei bared his teeth. "Shit, it isn't Takaya _and_ Jin? They're supposed to be – "

"It's Koro-chan," Fuuka interrupted. "And – " Her breath caught in her teeth, and blue fire spread across Juno's skirt, Fuuka concentrating harder.

"Fuuka?" Yukari pressed her hand against Juno's skirt, ignoring the blaze.

"It's – "

* * *

The silver half is so pale and smooth, it's almost like pearl. I gaze at a moment, then lift it. Then throw it, hitting the central Hesperis on the forehead. She doesn't reel back, but her mouth tenses, losing its loveliness.

"I can return to the Seal on my own. I'm not worried about the others. They won't be finding me, and they will take the keres down with my help. And now – I'm going to chop down a tree. Okay?"

The three branches twist, the Hesperides bracing themselves, their eyes opening to blazing silver.

Fuuka's voice shoots through my mind.

_Minako?_


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

Fuuka saying her name came like a slap, too fast and intense to be felt at first.

Shinjiro narrowed his eyes. Akihiko struggled towards a shout and didn't make it. "What?"

"Did you – " Junpei tried.

Yukari's voice was high and uneven. "Is this some kind of trap?"

"No – it – " Fuuka cut off, concentrating. "I know Minako-chan. It's her."

"But she's – " Junpei tried again.

"Where is she?" Aigis' voice came clearly. She leaned forward, focused on Fuuka, voice steady and rising with sudden impatience. "Tell us where she is!"

"She isn't answering." Fuuka squeezed her eyes with frustration. "She's just off Tatsumi Memorial Avenue, and she – she's fighting the Shadow – critical hit – Thanatos?"

"Hurry!" Mitsuru shouted, falling in step beside Akihiko as they ran for the door. Shinjiro stared at Fuuka, then seemed to remember himself, charging out just after Aigis and ahead of Ken. Yukari waited just long enough for Fuuka to dispel Juno before grabbing her hand and following Junpei headlong out the door.

* * *

Damn.

Fuuka's voice rings in my head again – _Minako-chan?_ – and I lunge forward. The Hesperides say something as I launch myself, but I can't hear it, jumping as high as I can, twisting midair and slamming down with my blade. Light gushes out the central Hesperis, slashed from skull to knees.

_Answer if you can hear me!_

No way. I skip backwards, dodging a blast of Magarudyne that sends Koromaru spinning.

A vision of fire blazes in my mind – no, Thanatos, we're not doing that. Instead, I summon Thanatos out in a sword-thrust, cutting through the second Hesperis, hardly hearing her scream. Koromaru's back on his feet, and there's no sound from Fuuka, but that makes no difference. They're coming.

There's a flutter in my stomach, something like joy, but I grip my naginata and force the feeling into anger, and strength, driving forward for the last Hesperis, jamming my blade into her throat and cutting upwards. I stagger back from the flare of light as the Hesperides thrash, flail, twisting.

And vanish. Not taking time to look, I throw myself to the front window, swing my naginata, and smash.

* * *

"She's defeated the Shadow." Fuuka had wasted no time as they flung themselves into the van, immediately putting on her headset and punching the elygic reader to life. Mitsuru was at the wheel, and she sent them hurtling down the streets, empty of most traffic. "She's running."

"Running?" Shinjiro repeated as Ken said, "Where to?" and Aigis leaned forward in her seat, one hand pressed against the window, as if she could find Minako in the swiftly passing streets.

* * *

A security alarm squeals overhead, and I don't have time to knock all the glass out of the window. I jump through. Koromaru barks, and I hear his nails hitting the wooden floor as he takes a flying leap after me. Damn, no.

I vanish my naginata and lower my head, running fast, faster than when I was trying to catch Junpei on the monorail, faster than when I heard Takaya's gunfire behind Port Island Station. Igor – you said yourself they shouldn't see me –

Blue light glows ahead, the door swinging open by itself.

I jump.

* * *

"She's gone!"

"Damn, no – c'mon, Fuuka, you have to find her!" Akihiko leaned forward in his seat, staring out the windshield beyond Fuuka. "If it's really her, we can't just – "

"Koro-chan's still there – he's half a mile down the road and – " Fuuka's voice was cut off by the howl of police sirens. The van shot past a restaurant, the glare from the headlights flickering over a gaping window and a ragged pool of broken glass. Mitsuru wrenched the van to a stop at the next block, where Koromaru was dashing back and forth along the street, yelping with frustration. They tumbled out, talking at once, saying his name. Aigis shoved forward and grabbed the dog by his heaving shoulders, staring into his face. Koromaru fell silent, panting for breath. Police lights spun farther up the road, cars pulling to stops in front of the broken window.

"It was Minako-san," Aigis said, still looking into Koromaru's eyes. "She realized we were coming and fled into the Velvet Room."

"This isn't possible." Yukari shook her head.

"The – Hey, Theodore! Where are you?" Junpei shouted. "We need to talk!"

"Hey!"

They turned as a police cruiser pulled up alongside them, Officer Kurosawa leaning out. He took everything in at a glance. "Is this more of _your_ business?"

Nobody answered at first, breathing hard, thoughts scattered. Mitsuru swallowed. "We were looking for our friend." She gestured to Koromaru. "We didn't see the – the culprit." She glanced at the policemen milling around the crime scene, then firmed her jaw and turned to Kurosawa. "Procure me a copy of any security footage."

Kurosawa raised his eyebrows very slowly. "If it's important." He slumped back into the driver's seat. "With you, it's always important." He pulled his cruiser around and headed back to the crime scene.

"We need to – we need to get away from here." Brushing her hair out of her eyes, Mitsuru jogged back to the driver's side of the still-running van. They didn't go far, only to the nearest park, where they piled out into darkness briefly lit by streetlights. Flyspeck snowflakes were falling.

"So is Minako actually – "

"Where've you been, Koromaru, did you know about all this – "

"What was that Shadow – "

"Are we gonna be able to get back to the Velvet Room, because – "

Fuuka knelt in the stiff grass to rub Koromaru's back. "Koromaru, please," Mitsuru said, crossing her arms and gazing down, "give us as complete an account as you can."

Koromaru swallowed and panted, then looked intently at Aigis. She hesitated, then spoke, relaying the information as soon as she heard it.

"'I caught Minako-san's scent two days ago outside of my apartment. It was fresh, so I followed her throughout the city. I lost track of her several times, but finally found her. She ran away and I took her down. She did not tell me everything at first, but I learned that Master Igor took her off her Seal so she could fight the – " Aigis hesitated, translating the word " – keres, or powerful Shadows." She frowned again, trying to understand. "Only certain Personas can destroy keres. She told me that because I'd found her, I had to come with her. She does not have much time. We were fighting a ker when she heard Fuuka-san. She ran away as soon as she could and escaped into the Velvet Room before I could take her down again.'"

"She ran away?" Yukari said. "But – why?"

Aigis looked at Koromaru, then translated his answer: "'She is frightened.'"

Shinjiro flinched.

"We gotta go back there," Junpei said, looking at the others for support. "We're going to get back into the Velvet Room and find out – what's going on – because – because – "

"Has she been freed from her Seal?" Akihiko asked, pacing. "Is the Seal damaged?"

"Koromaru-san says he does not know, only that she is pressed for time." Aigis rose. "Does she need our help?" She waited on his answer. "'She never said so.'"

"But – this doesn't make sense." Yukari turned appealingly to Mitsuru. "Why would she come back and just ignore us? That isn't like her!"

"Junpei's right." Akihiko stopped pacing, standing at Mitsuru's shoulder. "We need to find her, find out what's going on – "

"No."

Akihiko broke off, blinked at Shinjiro.

Shinjiro didn't speak again for a moment, hands pocketed, shoulders hunched, but he kept his gaze steady. "You're right, this ain't like her. Which means she has a damn good reason for what she's doing. Which means I ain't going to do anything to screw that up."

"No." For the first time that night, Aigis' voice shook. She stared at Shinjiro, eyes pained and unwilling.

"I think Shinjiro-san's right," Ken said quietly, staring at his feet, more contemplative than abashed. "We're all talking about finding her no matter what, but she probably knows much more about what's going on than we do."

Mitsuru brought her knuckles to her mouth, thinking. "We always followed her lead in the past." She turned to Yukari, trying to speak as gently as she could. "This... this is like her giving us an order."

Junpei was still searching the others for support. "An order to stay away?"

"But she's here. She's come back from the dead." Akihiko didn't meet Shinjiro's gaze. "I don't see how we're supposed to just ignore that."

"We don't know if she's back from the dead." Fuuka rose, movements tentative. "We really don't know anything."

"So we're..." Yukari swallowed, then stamped her foot with frustration. "We're just going to pretend Fuuka didn't see her?"

"And respect her wishes," Mitsuru said, reluctantly.

_"No." _

They all looked at Aigis.

"Think about what she wants," Shinjiro said under his breath.

"But – " Aigis' mouth worked a moment. "I was supposed to – if – if she's here, she can be hurt. She needs – "

Shinjiro started to say something, much more angrily than he probably meant to. He broke off, teeth closing together, then shut his mouth. A deep breath and he spoke again. "Don't be selfish."

* * *

I stumble and my palms smack into the plush carpet. The wind shifts as the door slams behind me. I just stay there, on hands and knees, staring at the carpet and breathing. I made it. They made it. It's...it's still okay.

No, it – it –

"Igor." Legs shaking, but I have to stand. He's there, behind his desk, fingers steepled. Elizabeth waits to one side, eyebrows arched. "Igor. I have to go. Send me back to the Seal."

Igor doesn't speak at first, watching me closely. "You have the power to place yourself back on the Seal at any time. But why this sudden reversal in attitude?"

"There's no reversal." I stalk towards the desk, trying to work the tremble out of my muscles. "They found me. They know I'm here. I can't do this."

"They will not necessarily find you ag – "

"Igor!" It's more of a pant than a shout. I grip the back of my chair. "I can't do this. I can't – I can't be here if they know it."

Igor raises his eyebrows and it isn't humorous or inquisitive. It's dubious, stern. "Now that they are aware of your presence, you feel the temptation to reunite with them is too strong?"

"Don't blame me for that."

He sighs. "I suppose I cannot. But your task is far from complete."

"There're only five keres to go."

"And they are the greater five. And their leader, Ker, is still at large. I say it again, your task is not over."

I shake my head. And when he starts to say something else, I shake my head harder. "You need to find another way to do this. This isn't fair to Theo. And it – it isn't fair to my friends."

"It's fair to the Hesperides."

I look up.

"They knew you would return to the Seal prematurely, even without eating the apple."

"Igor – "

"Yes?"

And that_ yes_, that monosyllable, kills whatever argument I was banking on. But still – that doesn't change the facts, that Theo's losing strength, and if my friends have to lose me again – if I have to leave them again –

Igor leans forward, and his mouth softens, sympathetic. "Sleep on it. We'll discuss things when you're refreshed."

I lean my forehead on the back of my chair, legs shaking, back splitting with pain. Wait, I wasn't wounded...? "If I'm refreshed, I'll just be firmer. I will go back to the Seal."

"Maybe so. But this is an important decision. You should not make it while weary."

It's okay. I'll get some rest, and then I'll leave. Theo will be able to recover, and my friends... They're strong. Even with five keres remaining, they'll be all right. They'll be better off than if they see me again. I push off the chair and give the best bow I can, back notwithstanding. I head towards the cabinet door, trading looks with Elizabeth – then turn back to Igor.

"What is it?"

No idea what I really want to say, so instead I grab for the first question that comes. "All the keres, they've...they've had some feeling or idea attached to them. Discord or Age, or whatever. What is... Ker, their leader? What's her other name?"

Igor tilts his head. "Ker is also Death."

* * *

It took Takeba to talk Aigis back into some semblance of calmness. Takeba struggled with herself, bit back her own need to search the city, and focused her energy on reassuring Aigis. They couldn't bring the robot to accept it, not looking for Mina, but she agreed that they could wait until morning to discuss it. Normally they would have felt idiotic, heading back to their separate places after Mitsuru had called them all together, but their minds were busy with other thoughts.

Shinjiro watched Aki, gauging his mood, to the point where he became aware that he was doing pretty much what Takeba had – focusing on someone else's trouble to escape his own thoughts. As the four of them stalked back into Kirijo's suite, Koromaru yapping ahead, Aki pulled around to face Shinjiro, eyes narrowed. "Shinji."

Shinjiro braced and never showed it.

"When you rejoined SEES, do you remember what you told me?"

Shinjiro moved to push past Aki. Aki's right hand latched onto his shoulder, strong enough to check him.

"You were the one who said we were going to protect Minako."

_As long as we can protect her._ The words didn't come. Shinjiro swallowed. "It ain't the same now."

"She ran away. She wouldn't do that unless there was some trouble."

Two impulses pulled Shinjiro – the first was to say, yes, _yes_, they had to find her, and the second one was to punch Aki and tell him to stop being so single-mindedly protective. For a moment, he did consider the first option, seeing her again – but even imagining it, there was a cold dread beneath his thoughts. He didn't take the time to figure out why it was there, he just trusted it.

He jerked his shoulder out of Aki's grasp."If you have to protect someone, look out for Kirijo."

"Shinji – "

Shinjiro answered by slamming the study door and slumping against it in the pre-dawn darkness. Now that he was alone, his heart started to pound.

* * *

The hip bath is back in the center of the bedroom, scented steam rising to the chandelier, and the velvet blankets are pulled back on the bed. I just focus on that, trying to push my thoughts away from my mental spotlight. Steam. Blue chandelier. Pretty. Get some sleep. This isn't working.

I pull out the hairpins and knead my scalp, using my hair to waft the back of my neck, then lose my jacket. That's when I notice the cold dampness on my back.

My arm hitches, then I reach back, prodding my shoulder. It's tender, just a bit, but the thick cloth of my dress is clammy with blood. Shaking again, I peel off my clothes, dumping them and twisting every way to see my back.

The wounds, the marks Theo made when he wrenched me off the Seal, they're bleeding again. Not thick gushes, like when I first noticed them, but veiny dribbles of blood. None of the keres wounded me there. So they're bleeding because Theo is losing strength? Or something else? Damn. It doesn't matter what Igor says, I'm going back to my Seal.

The shaking stops once I get into the bath, as if I was trembling from cold, not being upset, and the warm water could cure that. I curl myself up and sink to my shoulders, tipping my head back against the bath's sloping lip. After a moment, I close my eyes and take a slow gulp of air, then let it out, trying to steady my breathing, my heartbeat. It's almost like I can feel the blood rushing under my skin, and even that's too fast, too charged.

Thanatos is awake, under my thoughts, but he's poised, uncertain, too cautious for me to really touch. For that moment, he's more Ryoji than Thanatos.

"You left me when you realized what you were," I tell my friend. "You understand why I have to leave them."

Gradually, his conscious slips from mine, but I can tell he isn't satisfied.

* * *

I'm dreaming again, and I'm in a school hallway. Not Gekkoukan. It's narrower, not quite so well lit, and I can see trees out the left-hand windows. I can't hear anything at first but something creaking and swishing, something sharp and metallic, something rhythmic. Then, over that, a different beat, more imperfect, and the sound of sneakers skidding on a wooden floor.

Once I walk a bit forward and see the double doors down the hall, I recognize it – it's Yasogami High, that school I visited on the volleyball fellowship. We got creamed in this gym. I slide one door open and peer in, the light mellow.

There's a guy in there alone, shooting hoops. He's tall and thin, his basketball uniform showing some hard muscle on his arms. Sweat-damp silver hair falls into his eyes, and I don't think he's noticed me, staring at the hoop, setting himself and launching. The ball rebounds off the backboard and falls to the left. He goes loping to retrieve it as I step in and close the door behind me. That _creak-swish-snip_ rhythm is still going on.

He's got the ball again, turned to try another shot, and that's when he sees me. He stops, tensed, and our eyes meet. And even though there's nearly the entire gym between us, and even though I can't yet discern their shape or color, I can see his eyes – alert, uncertain, and recognizing me. And I know he sees the same thing, that I recognize him without ever having seen him before.

Who is he? No clue.

"Hey," the guy says eventually, straightening and dribbling the ball twice.

I give a small wave and walk towards him. There are some people sitting on the bleachers – no, wait.

They're three women, one with a spinning wheel, one measuring out an arm's length of rough string, and the last snipping it before adding it to a small pile of coiled loops. Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, three of my old Personas.

Also keres, I remember.

He notices me watching them, then looks carefully at me. And exhales. "So_ that's_ who you are." He smiles and bows just a bit. "Nice to meet you, senpai."

Ah. So that's who _he_ is.

I watch as he sets himself up for another shot, throws – and the ball arcs over the backboard and bangs against the wall.

I wait until he's recovered the ball and come trotting back around before I say anything. "I haven't heard much about you from Igor, but it sounds like you've been busy."

He shrugs, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "I haven't had the guts to ask Igor anything about you. Margaret just hinted there was – there'd been someone before."

"I don't even know how many 'guests' Igor's had."

He braces the basketball on his hip, and it isn't rude, the way he says it: "So... why am I dreaming about you?" He tips his head. "At least there's no luchador mask."

He's dreaming too? Is this like a two-way dream? "I've been dreaming about a lot of people lately." Jin, then Takaya, now him. All the keres I won't be facing in battle. "This is the nicest dream so far." I stroll away from him, studying the gym. It's hardly changed since I was there. When I look back, the Wild Card's still watching me, a lift to the corner of his mouth. I smile back.

"So tell me," he says, laughing a bit. "What's a Wild Card supposed to do once the fights are over? I've still got this power, but..."

Igor's hinted things aren't over for that one, but it's not my place to tell him. When I don't answer, an odd caution crosses his face and he adds, "How're you spending retirement?"

I look away, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't see the way my smile breaks. "I found something I needed to do." Don't get maudlin. "Lately, I'm – well, I'm doing a favor for Igor." It's hard to speak even incomplete truths around this guy, let alone lie outright. "I was anyway." He's watching me again, I'm sure of it, and I bet he's even got his head tipped, considering.

"What went wrong?"

I don't answer. In a moment, he's back to the shooting again. The next ball falls short of the basket. I stroll back towards him and kneel, legs tucked under, to watch as he makes another shot. It rolls around the rim of the basket and falls on the outside.

"I made things really hard for my friends. It was an accident, but... I can't stay with them any longer."

The Wild Card doesn't look over, focusing on the basket instead. "Do they want to you to go?"

"I haven't talked to them about it." But that's another incomplete truth. My heart feels too big, pressing on my chest. "No. I'm pretty sure they don't."

"Do they need you?"

I shift on the floor, leaning on my hip.

"Wouldn't you go through hell to keep them safe?"

Don't answer.

"Then," he says, as if I've been answering, and even if he isn't looking it seems he knows exactly what I'm feeling, "go through hell."

He shoots. And misses. He lets the ball bounce and sits cross-legged next to me. I close my eyes and press my shoulder against his.


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

The bathwater's cold when I wake, still giving off a faint scent. No idea how long I slept, but I'm not even drowsy. I stand, shivering, and check my wounds. They're hard and bloodless again.

Someone's folded my clothes, left them on the end of the bed. Dry, clean, no stains. Igor's alone in the main room when I step out, paging through a book. He closes it when he notices me, keeping his place with one finger, waiting on my decision.

"You're going to have to work with me, Igor."

No response.

"You can't make me flail around and waste time. I need to be right where the next ker is. I need to find it as fast as I can. So I can finish. As soon as possible."

He smiles. "I can agree to these terms."

Terms, like a contract. I'd only been thinking of my choices. I owe it to Theo and the world to get back to my Seal. I owe it to my friends to help them take down the keres.

And if my friends find me again?

Well. The only thing I can do is what I did last time.

"Very well." Igor gestures to the door. "I will place you where you will most quickly meet the next ker."

"Also – when this is over – Igor, will you send Elizabeth or Theo to explain everything to them? Otherwise, this is just going to haunt them."

He gestures again. "I will honor your wishes. Now, take to the next ker."

I go to the door and open it, meeting darkness and a blast of cold, salty air.

"You'll have to jump a bit," Igor says.

Part of me knows better, but I have things to accomplish. I jump a bit.

And nearly skid and tumble as I land on something hard and slippery – I grab out and am grateful for my gloves because whatever I've landed on feels sharp enough to cut bare skin. My legs are still sliding, and I punch my heels down, steadying myself. Something roars and suddenly I'm blasted with freezing salt water.

I can't really see, but I think I'm on a rock. Cautiously, I stretch one leg out. It meets empty air. Resettling myself, I reach out an arm and feel the rock's curvature. A small rock.

SPLASH.

In the middle of a nighttime ocean.

Damn you, Igor.

* * *

It's been an hour, maybe.

After reaching around and making sure that my rock didn't fortuitously connect to, you know, an actual land mass, I'd huddled up, knees to chest, arms on knees. And sat, letting myself get soaked by the water. The more it hits me, the less cold it seems, but my teeth keep bouncing off each other, even if the waves are too loud for me to hear the chatter. So. What's the next ker? Hypothermia? Sniffling While Sitting on a Rock? Wasting Away in the Black Nothingness Where Nobody Loves You?

Except it isn't black nothingness. I know black nothingness – it surrounds the Seal, and it isn't cold and loud and wet like this. I try to take my mind away from the discomfort. Even though I went into the Velvet Room and slept for what felt like hours, no time passed in the real world. So, to my friends, it's only been about an hour since Fuuka saw me. They've got to be still awake, still talking. What are they thinking? What are they deciding?

I shiver, so hard I feel like I'm going to topple. I don't want to imagine what they're thinking, but I can't escape the question. They want to know why I've run away from them. Damn, I – I should've told Koromaru more, then he could've explained why I have to stay away from them. And then...

They probably wouldn't care. I know them. They're probably trying to figure out how to find me right now. All of them, Ken and Koro and Fuuka. Mitsuru, Akihiko, Yukari, Junpei. Aigis. Shinjiro.

I squeeze my eyes shut, but I don't think I'm about to cry. I clamp my fingers on the rock, tighten my legs closer. I never should have come back. I'm not this strong. I can't pretend that I don't want them again.

I can still touch how I felt, the night I chose to Seal Nyx and the morning I finally let go and died. I was sad, but also aching with weariness. And peaceful. I knew I couldn't live with any choice but to die.

And now I have a chance to get back everything I gave up – except I don't, it only seems that way – I'm lying if I think I can ever be with them again because I'm dead. I died. You can't reverse that.

My eyes are tender. If I don't stop this, I _will_ cry. But why – why did Fuuka have to find me? Why couldn't they just go on not knowing I'm here? Why does it have to be so hard?

And now I'm crying.

Well. There's no one here to see me.

* * *

Thank heaven for that, I suppose. _I'm_ glad I can't see me. After I'm done, I wipe my streaming nose on the back of my glove, which is already soaked from saltwater. Deep breath. Okay. Igor told me the ker would be here. Am I fighting water molecules?

Damn it.

I evoke, giving Thanatos a taste of the night air. He crests over me, snarling, leaving a wake of heat. He hovers, uneasy, but he isn't focused on anything. He doesn't have a clue. After a moment, he forms a fireball in his fist and tosses it into the darkness before dissipating. The sea's settled some by now, and I follow the flame's trajectory, watching as it arcs towards its own reflection until they meet, extinguishing.

Then there's another light, small and steady, and a human voice shouting out. Well. Hello, ker.

Gingerly, I stand, my legs shaking from the cold and from being folded so long. I feel nothing the first few times I flex my fingers, until the nerves wake up and they ache.

"Hello?" the gruff male voice shouts out again.

"Heya!" I shout back. No arm-waving. I'm shivering so hard I might wave myself right into the drink. C'mon, ker, just a bit closer, then we can get down to business and I can have some words with Igor.

He bellows back: "Worst wet-shirt contestant I've ever seen!"

What?

"Hello there, Death," he chuckles once he's close enough, leaning into the lamplight on the stern of his boat.

No, you –

"Fancy a ride back to shore?"

I shout – sort of – I'm trying to swear too, but I can't quite get the syllables together – and I think I'm trying very hard not to cry because there's a high wail in my voice – but what I do manage to convey is WHAT THE HELL? Harris lowers his eyebrows and cranes back in his seat, as if trying to see all of me from the best possible angle.

"You – you – you're – " Can't tell if the stuttering is me being freezing or me being royally fed up. "You're supposed to be a Shadow! I have been sitting here, waiting on my – my duff – for a very important fight, I was promised a very important fight, and all I'm getting is some stupid existentialist lecture from _you_?"

"Beg your pardon," Harris says. "I'll just go."

I fling my head back and _aaaargh_ again. And stamp my foot because, I swear, it feels really satisfying.

Harris is still there when I look down, leaning forward, using the end of a dying cigarette to light his pipe. He flicks the cig, another little light cartwheeling into the darkness. "So?"

"I swear." My throat prickles from strain. "I'm waiting for a fight."

"I'll give you one if you don't get your tush down from there." He gestures to the boat's empty seat.

I sigh. "Is this...something I just have to go through? I can't go kill another ker until I talk to you?"

"Is it ker-hunting season?" And when he sees my surprise, he grins and gestures back down to the boat. "I know a fair bit of mythology, even if I mix it up a bit." He stretches an arm out.

Accepting my destiny, I press one hand to his arm, using him for balance as I step into the boat. I just have time to settle myself by the lamp before the boats rocks away, the water patting its sides.

"I can't see why you'd hunt keres, though." Harris keeps his eyes on me, cranking his pipe through his teeth. "There's no lost love among them. Leave 'em alone and they'd slaughter each other soon enough."

"_Not_ soon enough. I can't wait for them to gang up on each other. Besides, that would just leave the strongest one of all standing."

"Maybe so." He puffs out smoke. "My lady Ker. No, I don't suppose you'd like to let her have her way. Though I can't deny that I'm pleased to see some of those puny keres suffer. Momos." He snorts. "Little bitch. Always took all the fun for himself."

I stare at my gloves, waiting for something to happen. When I look up, and slowly, Harris is still just smiling.

"You're supposed to give me an apple or something."

He guffaws. "Is this the Garden of Eden? I ain't _that_ bad." He leans back and chuckles again, almost flattered. The boat's been moving forward steadily, though it's only now I realize there's no motor, and there's only one paddle, and it's lying on the bottom of the boat.

So much for the apple theme. "So you're Harris, a ker." That doesn't sound like a Greek name. "And your other, more literal name would be... Smelly Mysteriousness?"

He looks at me, smiling, shaking his head. Then tips to the side and spits into the water. "Pretty Death. Don't suppose you'd let me check under that tongue for a coin?"

I square my feet as much as I can on the boat's bottom, which is as close as I can get to bracing myself. "Smelly Vaguely Perverted Mysteriousness?"

"You got no manners." And he moves – I think he's bowing at first, but he comes up with the paddle in one hand, hoisting himself to full height. His face leaves the glow of the lamp, with only the light from his pipe burning on his cheek. The boat sways, and I grab the edge with one hand, summoning my naginata into the other. There's no room for me to stand.

His voice lowers, but it hasn't lost that pleased amusement. "We're old partners, but even you must pay the Ferryman's due."

"You're...that – that dead boat guy?"

He rips the pipe from his teeth and flings it away. "_Charon_, my lady. And I do thank you for ridding me of my lesser siblings. But I can't have your Seal dam the Styx completely."

"What?"

"We five remaining keres will do well enough to keep a steady flow of human pain from earth to Nyx. And I know I'm next on your hit list. So the fun ends here." Ragged jacket flapping, he swings the paddle above his head, metal glinting – a long blade's sprung out from it and there's no room for me to move.

Of course, I don't need to move.

"_Thanatos!"_

My Persona roars, a louder, looser sound than a lion's roar, surging into Charon. He staggers back but keeps his footing. The boat bucks and I let the motion carry me up and forward, naginata extended. He sweeps his paddle up, and at first all I feel is the impact, shooting pain through my arms. Then he swings his weight forward, hoists me and my blade up. Then it's cold, rushing – I'm hurtling through the air. Can't see anything but darkness and the occasional smear of light from the boat, then –

Pain, a hard slap of pain – no, it's cold – I've crashed into the water and suddenly it's closing over me, pure coldness flooding my mouth and nose. I kick out, no rhythm, just desperate movement, trying to keep myself awake, alert, straining my eyes open, looking for the surface – I jerk my legs out, kicking, trying, Thanatos –

Something blazingly hot bumps against my legs, then shoves up along my stomach. My hands reflexively clamp down – straps, buckles? – and then I'm deaf, I'm moving too fast to see or hear anything, but a different coldness breaks over me, sharp as needles, and I blink and can see the boat's light again. I'm on Thanatos' back, staring over his shoulders as he arcs himself and plunges through the night towards Charon.

Better get that naginata.

Thanatos smashes into Charon, throwing him off his feet, splintering the left side of boat. I jump as Thanatos dissolves. Charon's bent, legs splayed, balancing himself as the boat reels, trying to find its own equilibrium. My blade hits first, shoving into the top of his spine, his body resisting before my weapon shudders and thrusts down through the front of his chest.

My feet land on his shoulders, and we stand like that a moment, me on his back, pinned there by my weapon. And then I start bobbling because Charon starts laughing, shoulders shaking.

"I'd wondered," he says slurpily, though I can't see if he's bleeding from the mouth, "who was really in charge? I'd thought you were Death's little paramour. But it looks like he's your bitch."

I am so sick of you talking. I pull back, wrenching my weapon free – and tumble, hitting the boat's aft, which is still more or less intact. Charon's spun. By the time I've sorted myself out, he's almost on me, lifting his paddle high to stab me. I squirm and, holding it with both hands, push my naginata up, hitting his paddle from an angle. Also kick my legs out, hitting both his shins. And roll, but he still partially falls on me, hitting my hip, his blood splashing into my hair, swearing, fingers clawing my scalp. Reangle the naginata. Stab backwards. Hit stomach. Push.

He cries out, and it doesn't even sound human. But the fingers jerk away from my hair and I can feel him bending, twisting. The boat rears and falls and I vanish my weapon, using both hands to pull myself up, clutch the edge. Glance back and Charon's heaving himself up, so wet and dark I can't distinguish the blood. He hasn't dropped his weapon.

Thanatos' thoughts flash through mine. No, I've told you again and again, we're not going to –

Wait.

We're in the middle of the ocean.

Hell. Yeah. Okay.

"Thanatos!" I shout as Charon staggers up, tumbles, and uses his momentum to fall at me blade-first. At the same time, Thanatos bursts out of me, and, with him, Maragidyne. And I do my best to scramble over the edge of the boat and abandon ship.

I hit the water, and when I tumble, looking up, I can see bright flares through the surface. I push upwards, breaking, gasping for air, my body freezing as my face is bathed in heat. The fire's unnatural, devouring the boat as if it were a dry bush, not soaked with seawater. I can't see Charon – no sign of him flailing in pain or trying to escape. Thanatos hovers above, careful, watching.

As the boat curls in on itself, something – not the fire – sounds like it's chuckling.

I bob, ducking my head under the water as if that'll clear it. Even if he helped me, I had to kill him.

Even so, I'm glad Harris found something amusing about the end.

Fire burns along the water for a moment, but once all the boat has been destroyed, the fire lowers and flickers. Thanatos vanishes.

And there is no light source, it's darkest night, and I've got nothing but miles of water under me.

Igor. _Igor._ You owe me. You owe me so bad.

Faint blue light puffs into being. Far away under the water.

Seriously, what?

I gulp my breath in and dive downwards.

* * *

Junpei didn't just rub the back of his hand against his eyes – he went up the wrist and halfway to the elbow, and even that didn't get all the sleep out. When he'd come back to the motel last night (earlier that morning) he'd tossed and turned before dropping off. Everything was just too much to take in.

"Hey." It was Yukari's voice, subdued. He looked over to see Yukari, Fuuka and Aigis coming up the sidewalk towards him. Good timing. Mitsuru's apartment building was only a block off. They trudged along, hands in pockets, mindful of the thin film of snow. Not a lot of people had been walking along here.

"What'd you tell Chidori-san?" Yukari asked presently. "That you're...still here to plant flowers and beautify Port Island?"

"She doesn't know I ran out for half the night." Cynicism edged Junpei's usual cheer. "So I just left her a note this morning. And..." He drew a deep breath. "And I bought her a train ticket back home." He felt Yukari glance at him. "Yeah, I'm setting myself up for nuclear winter, but what can I do? She isn't like us, not anymore."

"You wish to protect her," Aigis said from the other side, her tone oddly tentative. "I understand."

"She won't," Junpei muttered. And left unsaid that he'd turned his phone off for the morning. "So, what'd you think our next move is? I mean, now that, uh..."

Yukari checked Aigis, not him, probably watching the robot's reaction, before speaking. "It looks like we have the same goal. I guess." Junpei could tell _we_ in this case didn't mean SEES, it meant SEES and Minako, divided forces. Hearing the frustration in Yukari's voice made it harder for him to keep his own impatience down. "I mean, there are these weird Shadows we have to destroy..."

"Koro-chan said something odd last night," came Fuuka's voice from behind them. "'Only certain Personas can destroy them', or something like that."

Junpei glanced over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Minako-chan's been able to destroy these Shadows on her own, so at least one of the Personas she's using is the right type."

"Types of Persona? You mean like its arcana?"

"Think of the two fights we've been in: Oneiroi and Momos. When we fought Oneiroi, we were able to incapacitate her fairly easily, but we couldn't kill her. Not until Ken attacked her with Kala-Nemi."

Yukari looked sharply over. "And with Momos – you said he was afraid of Ken – "

"– and he blocked only Ken off from his Persona," Fuuka finished. "We could weaken him, but we couldn't kill him."

"So – so what do Ken's and Minako's Personas have in common?" Junpei asked. "It's not like he can whip out a dozen at a time."

"I can't think of anything," Yukari said. "But Fuuka, I think you're on to something."

They quieted down as they entered the apartment building's warm lobby, almost humid compared to the cold morning, and they tried not to drip on the royal blue carpet as they made for the nearest elevator.

"Minako-chan used Thanatos in the fight last night," Fuuka resumed once they were heading up towards their floor. "And his arcana is Death. But Kala-Nemi's is Justice, so that can't be the common factor..."

Yukari shifted her weight and frowned. When Junpei gave her a questioning look, she shrugged. "It's just kind of weird to think of her using Thanatos. I mean, he was a Persona, yeah, but it's not like he was _her_. He was Ryoji-kun. And that monster we fought at the top of Tartarus."

"And he said he was almost indistinguishable from Nyx." Aigis didn't sigh, but her eyelids lowered.

"It's hard sometimes," Yukari said, not looking at any of them. "To know how to think of her. We all, you know, made peace with her holding Death." Junpei stiffened, but Yukari didn't take the chance to berate him for how he'd treated Minako when he discovered what she'd been carrying. "But she died and became the Great Seal. And now... if she's come back, what is she?" She looked quickly over, anger beneath her uncertainty. "I don't mean a ghost or any of that, but – I mean – what do you become, after you go through all that?"

It was hard enough to meet Yukari's eyes, harder still to crack a smile, but Junpei did both. "C'mon, don't freak out over that. She's Mina-tan. You, like, took baths with her in Kyoto and had slumber parties and giggled over girly crap. That's not someone you should be afraid of."

"I'm not afraid," Yukari fired back.

"I'm afraid," Aigis said, and the elevator dinged to a stop.

_Oh damn,_ thought Junpei as they walked down the hallway. They couldn't start falling apart. "You aren't afraid of _her_ though."

Aigis touched her fingers to her throat. "No... not of her."

"Well – well, don't be afraid of things that haven't happened yet." And he knocked hard on Mitsuru's door, as if that was the final word that would drown out any further conversation.

Ken answered the door, stepping aside to show Koromaru sitting on the carpet, twisting around and reaccustoming himself to his Evoker. Shinjiro stood by the rear window, one shoulder pressing into the glass, staring out. Akihiko and Mitsuru sat on the sofa, laptop open on the low table. They leaned into each other, staring intently at the screen. "Play it back," Akihiko said as Junpei walked over, slipping behind the sofa to see.

It was a dim-lit feed from a security camera, he guessed – he remembered Mitsuru asking Kurosawa for a copy of whatever the crime scene's cam came up with. At first all he saw was a dark square, then something white bobbed along the bottom left corner.

"Koro-chan," said Fuuka. "And – "

They watched in silence.

Junpei didn't ask the others, but he at least couldn't see much of the figure. Dark clothes, pale legs, and a naginata's blade gleaming with reflected light. Her hair was down, which he wasn't used to seeing, and he couldn't pick out its color in the light. Given the camera's angle, there was no chance of seeing her face. But there was something about the movements that was familiar – he couldn't say what exactly. Only that he could almost predict it, the way she strolled a few steps forward, muscles loose. Then stopped, tucking one leg back, bracing with the naginata. Even the little cock to her head. He'd seen it all a hundred times.

There was a soft flare of light, striking across her, burning her hair red – and then the feed went dead.

"Shadow interference, probably," Mitsuru said. Junpei had a feeling she was repeating herself for their benefit. "Unless the camera was elygic, it couldn't operate in the same vicinity as a Shadow."

"Play it back," Aigis said.

Mitsuru hesitated (how many times had she already studied it?) then obeyed. And they watched again, searching for clues. Junpei kept his mouth shut. It sounded stupid, but...was she a ghost? She looked solid. She looked just like herself. In a way, he felt guilty, watching her from a secret camera. It was downright creepy, especially the way they kept playing it back, searching for a clue, anything. Or maybe they were doing it just to see her.

"We sure this isn't a trick?" Junpei said, eventually.

"You're thinking of the Abyss of Time," Mitsuru said, "that Shadow we followed."

"Our desire to see her again taking shape." Aigis' voice trailed off. "But that Shadow tantalized us. It didn't run from us and refuse to return." Koromaru snorted and Aigis looked up, the anxiety in her face easing slightly. "Koromaru-san believes it is her."

"I'm sure it's her," Fuuka said. "Juno was certain."

"Play it back," Junpei said.

"You ain't going to find anything new," came Shinjiro's voice from behind him.

Mitsuru rested her hand on the lid of the laptop for a moment before shutting it. "Shinjiro – yes. We're only opening ourselves to speculation, and she's made it clear she's – " She broke off when Akihiko sighed impatiently. Junpei dug his hands in his pockets, bracing. Whatever was happening, he wasn't going to take sides – if they just refused to do that, to line up against each other, SEES wouldn't fall apart.

"If we aren't looking for her," Akihiko said stiffly, "what are we doing now? Leaving these – keres – to her and going back to our own business?"

Junpei remembered how in the old days, whenever there was some conflict, Mitsuru had sometimes stood just so everyone else had to look up at her. She remained seated now, looking at Akihiko a while, then out to include the rest of them, even over her shoulder for Junpei and Shinjiro. "I admit, that doesn't sit well with me either. I won't ignore the situation. We will continue scanning the city, and we will take down whatever Shadows we find."

Not quite what he wanted to hear (what _did_ he want to here?_ Let's hunt Minako down and bully her into telling us what's what_?), but Junpei punched the back of the sofa and smiled. "And you'll bail us out when we all lose our jobs, right senpai?"

Yukari had been edging towards a smile, but her face fell. "Gee, thanks, Junpei. I'm really glad you reminded us of _that_."

"Yeah," Akihiko muttered, rising from the sofa. "I have to go make some calls."

"Hey, I – c'mon, I didn't – hey, it's just as bad for me!"

"Those of us who can should return to work," Mitsuru said, not mentioning that it left Akihiko, Fuuka and Junpei hanging. "This will give everyone a chance to make excuses, and we will meet again this evening."

"Fine." Junpei threw up his hands. "Just like always." He sighed, wondering if he should call Chidori to make sure she took the train – though he wasn't sure how he could make her – and it would just be another opportunity to argue – when suddenly Mitsuru was at his side.

"Iori." Her mouth slowly settled into its smile, the small one Junpei remembered from when she'd signed everyone up for summer school. "If you're at loose ends, I believe I might have some errands for you to run."

The automatic response was to protest – but then Junpei closed his mouth. Why not? It was an excuse not to think of Chidori.


	15. Chapter 15

**15**

I'm not sure how the physics work – how, when I shove the door to the Velvet Room open, water doesn't come flooding in after me – but I tumble through, landing in my own puddle, frozen to the bone. I pick myself up, head aching, limbs quivery. Elizabeth is hastily jumping up from behind Igor's desk.

"Don't worry," I cough, "I'm fine."

_Slam_ goes one of the desk drawers, and Elizabeth glances to either side, shoulders hunched. Only when she's sure Igor's nowhere around does she bother to look at me.

"Anyway." I shift my weight and think better of wringing my hair out over the carpet. "That's six keres down now." So cold. I shouldn't feel sorry for Harris, so of course I do. No idea what I should do about it, sit down for half a second and contemplate what I did, or just move on. "Almost done."

"My brother will be glad to hear that," Elizabeth says. "If he still can."

I pause en route to the side room. "Seriously, how is Theo holding up?"

Elizabeth makes a brief, breezy gesture with her right hand. "I haven't heard him complaining. But then, he might not be able to."

So I turn back from the bedroom. No time for naps. "Okay. Well, where's the next one?"

"Such a hurry," she remarks, pulling out the Compendium and paging through for an appropriate Persona. "I can direct you to the nearest ker, but you must realize it might not be there waiting for you. The ker will choose its own terms to fight you under." She flips out Hariti's card and casts Diarahan which also, oddly, dries me.

"You should be nicer to Theo."

Her eyes widen, and maybe not because I jerked the conversation back around. She doesn't speak, but the head-tilt and raised eyebrows are a pretty clear _Why?_

"He's the nicest person I know. I think he's the best person I know. He's patient and gentle even when things don't go his way, and he gets six shades of hell."

Her startled expression melts back into a smile. "Who do you think made him that way?"

I shake my head. "I just, I hope – I _know_ he did this voluntarily, chose to support the Seal for me. But it must be painful, and I just wish he'd never had to." I head back for the door. "I wish none of this had happened." (I wish that pleased glow in my chest, the idea that I still might somehow see my friends, hadn't happened. Well. If I have time to angst, I have time to work.) I place my hand on the door and look back at Elizabeth.

"You're sure you don't wish to stop off somewhere before you fight the ker?"

"Of course I'm – " Wait. "Are you going to drop me into the middle of a volcano this time?"

She smiles that smile that means she's the only one enjoying this. "You said you were in a hurry."

With a tight-lipped grimace, I grab the door handle and wrench it open.

* * *

Maybe this was Mitsuru's way of doing him a favor?

A sliver of his conscience admitted that he was partially to blame. He hadn't been able to keep quiet about how bad he felt, not only leaving Chidori exposed to danger but bringing her into the city under false pretenses. (Honestly, he hadn't talked about half the stuff he'd been thinking, about how much he wished there was a way to explain everything without mentioning all the terrible things that had happened to her, and whether she deserved to know the whole truth about herself, or whether she had a much better life now and he wasn't going to mess with it.) In any case, all of SEES knew he felt bad about lying to her. And sitting around Mitsuru's suite with nothing to do wouldn't make that any better.

"Please report back to me by four o'clock," Mitsuru had said to him, even while dialing up a Kirijo car for him to use. "And by all means, let me know if you run out of pots."

Thus did Junpei sit in the middle of a car's back seat, starring ahead past the chauffeur to the windshield, with each arm around a twenty-pound terra cotta pot full of baby winter jasmines and honeysuckles, another pot between his knees, still more clinking on either side of his legs. Mitsuru's instructions were simple: take the plants to various locations throughout the city, where workers would take over interring them. Then head back to Mitsuru's apartment complex where another delivery would be waiting.

Junpei knitted together shreds of optimism. Chidori might still be in danger, but at least he was no longer lying to her.

He spent all morning on flower detail, making five trips in four hours. Close to noon, a light snowfall began. Junpei leaned against the car at his latest delivery, tipping his head back, admiring snowflakes that were so clean they almost had a blue tinge. Give them a couple minutes though and they'd be sludge on the side of the road. Pity. He glanced over. He'd made this delivery to a small park, and the workers were busy planting a line of firethorns behind the benches. With a proper snowfall he could see they'd be lovely, a backdrop of white with berries as scarlet as Chidori's hair.

Not so bad, he told himself, managing his first real smile of the day. It was a pretty good way to spend a morning.

He heard the sigh first, an exasperated hiss of breath. And he turned so quickly his hip banged into the car. It was a tense moment – which of them would expostulate first? – and for once, Junpei's quick reflexes gave him the advantage. "You – Why didn't you take the train?"

Chidori, bundled in her long white winter coat, crossed her arms tightly, drawing herself up to as much of a height as she could command. She spoke smoothly, but there was an edge to her voice and her dark eyes had narrowed. "I sold the ticket and spent the money on a gourmet breakfast."

"But you were supposed to go home!"

"And I didn't."

Junpei came that close to wringing empty air. "All this craziness is going on, and you won't even – even – "

She shook her head quickly. "My place is with you, Junpei."

"But it's not like – you can't be with me, not right now! You aren't part of SEES."

Her eyebrows sprang into fine arches, then leveled off as she frowned again. "What does SEES have to do with all these mysterious attacks?"

Junpei garbled out a few non-words and threw an arm to the firethorns.

"I wouldn't mind helping you with those," Chidori mentioned. "And besides," she went on, "I don't see that I'm in any more danger than you are. You're walking around the city, and it's not as if..." She trailed off, gesturing as she searched for the right words. "Not as if you could really protect yourself either. Aren't we equally helpless?"

Junpei certainly felt helpless, standing there, trying to find the magic words that would send her to safety. Maybe – maybe he should put her under Mitsuru's protection? No, she'd be too close to the heart of the truth. And besides, Chidori'd never forgive him if he handed her back over to Kirijo people. But still...

About then, he became aware that Chidori was watching him very closely, head to one side. As soon as she realized he'd noticed, she softened and walked over, not stopping until she was right against him and had nudged her brow against his breastbone. "You shouldn't worry, Junpei."

"Yeah, well..." A bit shakily, he put his hands on her shoulders. "You never worry." They really shouldn't stand like that, pretty much hugging out in the open, but he still didn't pull away. "Um – uh – Chidori." He swallowed. "Listen, about what I'm doing here..." Mitsuru's warning glare flashed through his thoughts – and was followed by Minako's face, the pale, fearful anger he'd seen when he'd been found chained up on the dorm roof all those years ago. "I can't tell you anything too specific, but... You know Mitsuru-senpai's got a lot of power in the city and... well, I'm not just planting flowers."

Chidori straightened, small hands folded in the middle of his chest. She seemed to be waiting for more explanation, and when it didn't come, she looked down. "So you're saying I can't possibly help you?"

Yup, that was it exactly, and yet Junpei found himself not saying it. "No, I – well – I mean – you know – " He sighed heavily. "It's not that I _want_ you to go – "

She looked up, the corners of her lips curving with delight. "Then I won't."

"Wha – No! No. _No_, it's really, seriously dangerous, Chidori, and – "

She went on tiptoe and gave him a light kiss. "I am as brave as anyone in SEES. And so I will leave you to your... duties." She regarded the flower pots a moment, still dubious, but the smile she gave Junpei had a new pride in it. "Please, come see me as soon as you're able." Reluctantly, she pulled away from him, walking up the sidewalk, watching him over her shoulder.

"Chidori – " he tried, "I'm not joking, you should really go home." She put a finger to her lip and shook her head. Junpei called something else after her, something about train tickets, and she gave him a swift handwave. Junpei slumped; just then, he felt heavy enough to sink through the concrete. Despite the pleased warmth in his stomach. "Hey," he finally said, not a shout, pretty much under his breath. He never expected her to hear it, but she turned around. "This is a huge city. How'd you even know where I was?"

She tilted her head up, thinking. "I can always find you, Junpei."

He watched her a moment, not speaking over the sudden feeling in his chest, a frustrated wish that she'd awoken from death still having a Persona. That she could fight alongside him. For a moment, he wished Trismegisthus wasn't half Medea.

With an effort, he pulled on a smile. "Thanks, Chidorita."

She gave him another wave before heading on.

* * *

Mitsuru stood back several steps, watching Yamagishi and one of the technicians going over the elygic equipment. There had been a faint reading early that morning, but since then, nothing. _Around three o' clock,_ Mitsuru mused._ Just a few hours after the incident in Apple Bower, far out in the ocean. _She tried not to dwell on Minako and the rise of impatience that came with her. Yes, if Minako was there, Mitsuru wanted to see her again. But Mitsuru knew Minako had all but ordered SEES to stay away. But she couldn't help thinking that Minako was behaving...inexpertly, forcing SEES far away from her. Mitsuru remembered how she'd always trusted Minako's leadership during battle, but that couldn't change the way she felt.

But Mitsuru kept her lips shut on her feelings. She would have felt uneasy doing anything but. It was partially why she'd decided to go with Yamagishi. Yamagishi was both sensitive and disciplined and wouldn't fill their time speculating about Minako, tearing at old and fresh wounds alike.

The lab room door slid open, more sharply than she was accustomed to, and she turned to see Akihiko walking in. His shoulders were tense, and not with an eagerness for battle. Mitsuru waited to see if he had any news for her, but when he stopped alongside her and didn't speak, she merely nodded hello and went back to watching Yamagishi and worrying about the keres.

"Will we be scanning from here?" Akihiko asked eventually. "These machines will amplify Fuuka's powers, right?" He studied the machine more closely. "This is the old reader from the dorm, isn't it?"

"Spruced up some. But the elygic readers were more necessary while we were on the road chasing that... that ker we never found." Mitsuru waited until the frustration had left her voice. "And they're useful now, so that Yamagishi doesn't have to be actively scanning all day. But tonight, no, I think we'll keep my suite our headquarters. And –" she slid her gaze to the corner of her eyes and saw that Akihiko was watching her " – we will run down any Shadow we see, regardless of where Arisato is in relation to it."

Akihiko's mouth angled to a smile – then he shifted his weight and sighed, looking at the reader again. "Sorry."

"Excuse me?"

"I realize I've been – butting heads with you over this whole issue, whether we should look for her or not."

"Perhaps you're a better friend to her than I am."

"Yeah, but we're talking about us. Sorry."

"Well... No execution this time." She dwelt a moment on that, smiling, and then turned on her heel, tapping across the floor to the doorway. "It's after noon; have you eaten anything?"

With a wave to Yamagishi, who was still too immersed to think about much else, Akihiko followed Mitsuru down to the small cafeteria. Once seated, bookending two trays of industrial edibles, they didn't speak at first. They hadn't eaten much together, even during school. Mitsuru's Student Council responsibilities had often seeped into her lunch period, and meals at the dorm had been scattered affairs, everyone eating whenever they needed to, but rarely together.

Mitsuru struggled a moment with her plastic salad container, but mastered it even before Akihiko had looked up from his own meal. She searched for something to say, her mind always coming back to SEES. "How is... how is Shinjiro taking things?" She winced. She'd asked that before, two years ago at the funeral when Shinjiro had stormed off.

Maybe Akihiko remembered that, maybe not, but he gave the same reply. "He's working it out."

Which Mitsuru took to mean that Shinjiro wasn't talking, and this upset Akihiko just as much as the bigger problem. She studied Akihiko, then asked a new question – and even she didn't follow the continuity of it. "Are you impatient to be back home again?"

He looked up, frowning.

"Do you want to get back to university?"

His consternation eased, and he even smiled as he dug back into his food. "Oh. I don't think of that as home."

Mitsuru turned her napkin over in her fingers, made herself stop. "Are you home now?"

"Of course." He looked across at her, and for a moment their gazes rested on each other.

Mitsuru ducked her head first, picking at her salad. Her cheeks felt clammy.

* * *

Ken frowned down into his third cup of coffee. He'd made it before he realized he didn't want any more and had only made the cup from routine. Yukari, Aigis and Shinjiro were at work. Mitsuru and Fuuka had gone to the labs to discuss the recent Shadow activity. Akihiko had gone off somewhere while Ken had been moodily clicking through the TV. He should've taken Junpei up on his offer to help with the flower potting. Anything would be better than sitting around Mitsuru's suite, waiting for evening. Ken went back to the study and clicked on the TV, balancing his cup on the easy chair's armrest. Koromaru bounced up after him, turning round, trying to make himself comfortable despite the fake wings.

Ken had no idea what he was watching though; images flickered across the screen and left no impression. He felt Koromaru lick his hand, but he didn't even react to that. He thought part of him might be listening for Kala-Nemi, but he'd only ever heard her during battle, and then, only recently. Was that because his Persona was special? Fuuka thought so, that there was some similarity between Kala-Nemi and Thanatos that made them react in the presence of keres.

Ken tried to remember any time he'd seen Thanatos used in battle during the Dark Hour. There weren't many. Yukari had hinted once that Minako didn't like manifesting Thanatos. She'd first evoked him back at the beginning, when he'd torn out of Orpheus. From what he'd heard, it had been incredibly painful, possibly even worse than when Castor had torn free of Shinjiro (Ken shied from the thought). Ken wasn't surprised he didn't remember the Persona that clearly, but he did recall that it was a dark monster, all sharp steel and sepulchers and harsh breathing.

Kala-Nemi felt secure and reliable. Even with her brutality, she still felt safe. Ken wondered if Thanatos ever felt that way for Minako.

If Fuuka was right, he was the only one who could help Minako. The others could weaken the keres, but only he could help her defeat them. He drew a deep breath, unsure if that made him confident or more apprehensive. He'd always wanted to fight alongside Minako as her equal, be as important to her as she was to him.

What did that even mean now? Sure, he'd had a crush on her once, and she'd been his friend, and now he could see she'd been humoring him a bit sometimes. And then she'd died, and that image of her as his unattainable senpai had been frozen in time. But what about now?

Words broke into his thoughts – _"rescheduled her concert for later in the week"_ – the news anchor's voice. Ken blinked, shook himself.

Minako, Ken remembered, had never thought that sitting inert and brooding had been any good for him.

Ken hesitated, then set his mug down and pulled out his cell phone. The answer on the second ring came as a surprise. "Mitsuru-san? Um – no, everything's fine. I was just wondering... Is it all right if Koro-chan and I join you at the labs?"

* * *

When Yukari glanced out the boutique's window, she saw that Aigis was already waiting for her on the street corner. It wasn't even five minutes past closing time.

Shrugging on her purse, Yukari walked outside, blinking against the cold. Aigis had her hands clasped and was studying the ground, the wind beating the hem of her skirt against the top of her boots. She was impervious to the filmy snowfall.

She looked...young, Yukari thought. Which meant she looked no different than usual. But Yukari realized for the first time that Aigis would always look sixteen and, within a few years, would always look younger than her friends.

"Hey," Yukari said, well aware she didn't sound as cheery as she meant to, "ready to head to senpai's?"

Aigis kept her head down a moment longer, then looked up. She didn't blink, even when snowflakes landed on her lashes.

"What?"

"Do you think..." Aigis glanced away, then dragged her eyes back. "Do you think, if I search the island for Minako-san against her wishes, I don't... I don't really love her?"

"What do you mean?"

"I have been thinking." Aigis hung her head. "All my life I... I feel I have always been watching her, and guarding her, and... wanting to keep her from her other friends."

Yukari grimaced. "Don't talk like that, Aigis. Minako was always grateful to have you, especially at the end."

"No – I, I didn't trust her."

"But you were protecting her – "

"Yukari-san, do you remember when we moved into our apartment and your mother called?"

Yukari's eyebrows jumped, then she frowned. "Yeah, why?"

"She wanted you to move in with her, and be close to her." Snowflakes had collected on the dark sleeves of Aigis' jacket, and she studied them a moment. "After you'd finished talking to her, you told me that she didn't know how to let go."

"My mom is a pile of issues. "

"She was so caught up in protecting you, she wouldn't let you protect yourself. I..." Aigis looked up, though not at Yukari. "I have been that way with Minako-san. I must learn to trust her." She unclasped her hands and straightened. "It hurts."

"Hey, c'mon." Hesitantly, Yukari put her arm around Aigis' shoulders, hard even through her clothing. She pulled forward, and Aigis didn't resist, falling into step beside her. _C'mon, Minako,_ Yukari couldn't help thinking. _What on earth are you doing?

* * *

_

Shinjiro was waiting in the hall outside Kirijo's suite even before the crowd from the lab arrived. Kirijo'd ordered a dinner in, so Shinjiro backed himself into a corner and stayed out of the way while Yamagishi and Ken set up, trying to find enough space for seven humans and one dog to eat comfortably. And Aigis was set a place too, so she wouldn't feel left out.

Ken looked better. Shinjiro wasn't sure what might've happened, but the kid moved purposefully, made himself useful, was quick to answer questions and wasn't drooping into his own thoughts. Aki also seemed to have come to terms – at least, he wasn't huffing and puffing about searching the city, and he didn't corner Shinjiro the first moment he saw him (though he did stare with that damned intensity, and for a second Shinjiro was sure he was going to march over and launch into a lecture). He wasn't cheery, but he was trying to help Yamagishi and Ken and mostly getting underfoot.

After a while – and Shinjiro was a very patient observer – he noticed that Aki kept watching Kirijo. She was at the other end of the room, on the phone, talking with colleagues, and Aki kept glancing over. More than once, they both glanced and ended up intersecting before quickly looking away. It reminded Shinjiro of when the three of them had first lived together, covertly assessing each other. Only they'd assessed each other for years now, so this felt entirely different.

Just as Shinjiro thought that, he saw Aki quickly turn away from Kirijo to straighten a place setting – meaning he jerked it several inches too far to the left – and he had a brief but furious blush under his eyes.

Holy shit.

Sighing more to himself than aloud, Shinjiro closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall. Kirijo and Aki were circling, waiting for the other to strike, and they barely realized it. Wasn't his problem. Except that it was. Either they'd figure it out for themselves or they'd miss each other entirely. Until then, they could just keep watching each other out of the corners of their eyes, like that'd actually get them anywhere.

Shinjiro's part smug, part contemptuous, part worried thoughts suddenly slipstreamed into his own memories: walking Port Island's streets on a humid, late-summer evening. It was pretty far into their time together, after the typhoon most likely, and as they strolled to the dorm, Mina had taken to walking backwards in front of him. Apparently she wanted to see his face as they talked. And Shinjiro told her if she didn't watch out, she was going to walk backwards into traffic. And she told him that if she did, it would be his fault for not warning her. And he said to hell with warning her, and she'd smiled and turned back around with a smirk that said she'd still gotten her own way.

Shinjiro pulled his thoughts abruptly away, not so much because he'd remembered what an idiot he'd been with her and how much he'd enjoyed it. Until now, remembering Mina had been both painful and comforting, because part of him knew she was safe and her story had all been wrapped up.

Now, most likely, she was somewhere in the city.

Shinjiro opened his eyes and pushed off the wall, unwilling to sink into thoughts of walking right out the door and hunting the streets for her.

* * *

It was just after eight o'clock before Fuuka evoked, Juno unfurling. Mitsuru had turned off the lights so that no one in the opposite apartment building could see in, and snow fell heavily beyond the windows, collecting in fat, fluffy scarves on the sills.

"How 'bout it?" Junpei asked, see-sawing his katana on his shoulder. "See her?"

"No," Fuuka said thoughtfully. "There's no sign of Minako-chan. But I – I think I've found a ker."

"Where?" Mitsuru asked.

"Gekkoukan."


	16. Chapter 16

**16**

Wait. Really? Here?

I turn slowly around, head over my shoulder, taking everything in. Two years hasn't changed that much. Elizabeth dropped me right by my old desk.

What sort of ker would be haunting Gekkoukan?

Actually, no, that totally makes sense. Thanatos? Smell anything?

Thanatos lets his thoughts touch mine a moment, wistful. He remembers this room too, and even more fondly than I do. Yeah, well, he never took one of Mr. Ekoda's exams.

Never mind, is there a ker? (Is there the night guard?) I quickly step away from the window, though I don't think it was silhouetting me anyway. Of course no time passed in the Velvet Room, so it's – I pause to try to figure out the time, then glance at the wall clock, which I can barely make out – it's about three in the morning. Possibly too late for the watchmen, but there could be people on the street.

Thanatos' melancholy has lowered to frustration. I can't quite read it – maybe he can sense the ker but can't locate it. He's no more a scanning Persona than any of my others.

"C'mon, Ryoji. We can do this."

His frustration softens at the name. I pace the floor. Maybe I just have to play this like normal, wait for the ker to come for me.

No sign of any apples. Drat. That got annoying as hell, but it was kind of useful.

* * *

I suppose I should be grateful the new semester hasn't started yet. I don't have to duck for cover at the beginning of a school day as the halls and classrooms fill with students. I don't have to keep slinking from cabinet to storage shelf, looking for hiding places, constantly on the alert that I'll be discovered and recognized.

Still, it would've passed the time.

For a while, I hold off from sitting in my old seat. It would feel too...sentimental? I keep telling myself it isn't my world anymore. My world is the Seal. Except this was my world once, and would I be the same Minako if I had never come to Gekkoukan? No. I would still be alive. The Full Moon Shadows would never have arisen, half of my friends wouldn't have found their Personas, and who knows how many years Nyx might've needed to be called down? I'd be out there, somewhere, living with one of my uncles or aunts, kicking around with a different set of friends, Thanatos numb inside me and both of us sleeping through the Dark Hour.

Yeah, I'm doing really well not being sentimental.

So I plunk down and lean back, then doze for a while, too lightly to really dream. Which is pretty nice, except when I wake, Thanatos and I are both rattled that I wasn't keeping a better watch out for the ker. Leaning my elbows on the desk, I watch the sunrise through the windows.

By then I'm starving. The further morning goes, the more likely it is someone will show up, cleaning the school or whatever before classes start, so if I'm going to get something, I better move now. I glance at the left corner of the wall. Security camera. Hm. Well, as soon as a ker shows, it'll probably short out. I just hope Gekkoukan hasn't become ultra-awesome and installed an alarm on every room.

Not so far. The classroom door isn't even locked. I run on tiptoe down the hall (can't help remembering the time Ryoji and I sneaked in here on a Sunday morning). There used to be a vending machine around – right, here it is. I have just barely enough yen to buy something cheap, and –

Oh damn, they haven't restocked it yet. There's only pocky. Junpei used to laugh at me, because apparently _all_ chicks like pocky, so what's wrong with me? Around September, I was finally able to point out that Chidori probably didn't like pocky, but by then Junpei was too wound up in Chidori to really take that bait.

Well, whatever. I go back to my classroom and crunch my pocky.

* * *

Still no need to hide from anyone.

* * *

12:00 and all's well.

* * *

Oh _hell_, Elizabeth. Where is the ker?

* * *

Around three, I sneak into the computer lab and take to the Internet, because if the ker hasn't landed on me in twelve hours, I don't see why it will in the next thirty minutes. Thanatos is pissed, and not really at me. I can almost feel him twisting around, thrashing, looking for a target to vent his frustration on.

I'm not looking up info about my friends. I don't need to know.

About SEES that is. But, you know, my other friends... it couldn't hurt to see what's come of them...

I try to keep a tight rein on my curiosity. I'm just going to keep to Gekkoukan's lame little social network. Me and my friends never used it much, though we all had profiles. (Junpei and I even set one up for Koromaru and made daily posts for him for a week. And then I set up a profile for Shinjiro just so I could friend him, and then I was too chicken to add anything to it.)

My friends' profiles are all at least a year out of date, for the most part. Hidetoshi made some final posts on the Student Council board, and I see some posts exchanged between Yuko and Rio about their graduation last year. Fushimi made Student Council President, wow, and here's a thread about Mr. Ekoda's love life...? Well. Good to know life marched on without me. No, I'm not bitter. At least, I don't want to be.

I tap the keyboard, fighting myself, hard. Then grimace against the flutter of adrenaline in my stomach and click to the search bar, typing in my own name.

_Latest Post: February 16, 2010: Forgot to turn in my paper on music theory. Seriously, what's wrong with me?_

I stare at my last post, trying to remember where I wrote it, or what paper that was supposed to be, or why I thought I had to share that with the world. Can't. So much of that month is a painful haze, when I either remembered everything far too clearly, or remembered so little but always knew there was something important I was missing. Caught between my true memories and all the false memories we'd created to fill the void left by the Dark Hour. Nothing but a drive to keep moving, keep living, not close my eyes and let go because there was something I still needed. It hadn't all cleared away until the end.

I scroll down to my message board, and my fingers freeze over the keys.

_January 1, 2012: Still missing you. – SH_

_ December 1, 2011: I dunno, there was something about her in the school paper_

_ November 28, 2011: wait who is this person_

_ November 21, 2011: whore_

_ November 18, 2011: Ah, rats, sorry I missed your special day! Happy Birthday! – Yuko_

_ November 2, 2011: Happy Eighteenth, Minako! – Rio_

_ November 2, 2011: I am knowing the parties in heaven are ichiban! I miss you, Minako-sama, but I am staying strong! Yatta!_

_ October 14, 2011: Would you shut up?_

_ October 12, 2011: o yea there was something about her and a shooting_

_ October 12, 2011: seriously you guys never knew arisato i was dating sanada-sama for 4 mos and she comes along and starts screwing him i am like what are you doing this is my boyfriend and she's like who gives a crap and i'm like your already with iori mr ekoda told us to watch out for her and hasegawa and i believe him my brother used to see her at p island station late at night_

_ August 3, 2011: holy shit she's dead. who cares?_

_ July 23, 2011: I remember reading she died of exhaustion or something_

_ July 11, 2011: All I heard is that their dorm was all one club or something, I don't know what they did. And they were always together and THEY WERE THE ONLY ONES WITH HER WHEN SHE DIED. Didn't the police look into that? Who knows what they were doing at that dorm? Maybe they were on drugs or something? Or like she was trying to leave the club so they killed her so she couldn't tell their secrets? I heard they were all sleeping together, but Kirijo-senpai's part of that, and I think everybody's too scared of her to try anything like that. _

_ June 2, 2011: Was she killed in a car accident or something?_

_ June 1, 2011: your hot_

_ May 28, 2011: dude all you wankers posting here_

_ April 14, 2011: You know, my brother died last year too. No one writes to him._

_ March 5, 2011: Can't believe it's been a year. – SH_

_ March 5, 2011: Longest year ever, Mina-tan. Gimme a call sometime when you're not so busy. – J_

I push back from the computer, looking away before I've really thought. I want to think, to put a name to my thoughts, just so I can know what I'm really feeling. But it's impossible. It's almost like I've seen something I shouldn't have, and now I'm just supposed to forget it and move on. No, that's exactly it. I'm about to cry, and I can't tell exactly why.

I make my way back to the classroom, pausing at one of the gray windows. The snow's picked up. It never fell like this while I was here.

I close my eyes, trying to bypass my memories of being the Seal, trying to bring myself back to the last moments of my life. Graduation Day. Tired, impatient, bone-chilling cold. Aigis' fragile words, her standing at roof's edge, not far off, the relief of knowing that someone still remembered everything. Wondering if the others would come. Knowing that I was dying and wondering if I'd live to see them again.

I'd thought I could hold on as long as I had to, and then Shinjiro was there, and all my strength seeped away in surprise. I didn't realize that I was happy, or that I couldn't stand, until he was holding me. I said something to him, but now I can't remember what. I can hardly remember what he said, only that I was clutching the front of his jacket and pressing my cheek against his chest, trying to keep myself close to him, afraid that I was falling into a faint. And then I must've been on his lap because we were sitting and that let my head clear. He'd shifted me against his shoulder so I could look up into his face, and I remember twisting my fingers into his lapel, thinking that I wouldn't let go even when I left. When he kissed me, I'd closed my eyes, and then I didn't think to open them again.

I could smell cherry blossoms, I could almost smell the sunlight, the jacket's fabric rough against my cheek. I could hear Aigis' footsteps as she walked along the roof, I could hear Shinjiro's heartbeat, I could hear laughing and running from far away. I tried to sort out the voices – Shinjiro was speaking, a wry note in his voice – the roof door banged and I remembered that I had to open my eyes – Shinjiro bent down, his lips against my forehead as he whispered – and I remembered that I didn't have to open my eyes, that this is was how I'd promised Nyx it should be.

Then nothing. No memory of the moment my heart stopped.

I almost wish they could've all forgotten me.

What was my funeral like?

Did my body feel anything when it was burned?

* * *

I jolt myself out of yet another uneasy, hunger-ridden, pocky-hating doze and push my gaze immediately to the wall clock. 9:05. Shivering, I twist out of my desk and drag myself to the window, press my forehead against it to see out. Dark, hundreds of snow flecks falling. How long am I supposed to wait and –

Hold it. Thanatos, what are you listening for?

He shifts in my thoughts, scenting. He isn't frustrated, he's keyed-up, alert. I shove away all thoughts of food, more satisfied now by a delicious thrill of adrenaline. Finally. The naginata appears, and I balance it between my hands, turning away from the window.

Well. So glad you could finally join us.

There's a shape at the far end of the room, by the right-hand door. At first, all I see is the darkness shifting and rippling, then I make out the shape of a tall, curvy woman. No features, like an outline in clear water. Like she's a chameleon whose entire body, clothes and all, takes on the colors of her background. She moves slightly away, and the background follows her, filling her shape with a shelf of books, coat hooks. Her hips undulate as she walks, light flickering across her pelvis – hold on. It's a belt. She's all see-through except for a thick belt, low on her waist, rainbow as an oil slick.

"Who are you?"

She doesn't have a mouth, but I get a sense of her smiling. "Eris."

Thanatos growls. "No," I say. "I killed Eris."

She tips her head. "Then I'm Geras?"

"Still wrong."

She touches her cheek. "I'm Junpei Iori."

I sigh. "Never mind, I was just curious."

* * *

"At least traffic's good."

As usual, Junpei's banter didn't go over universally. Akihiko, crouched over the wheel of the SEES van, swore under his breath, powering the colossus down Port Island's roads at a velocity of... fifteen miles per hour. The windshield wipers flailed from left to right, tossing snow, and the tires rumbled uneasily over a building carpet of packed snow.

"We might as well walk to school," Yukari groaned as they passed the monorail, shut down due to weather. They'd hardly seen any other cars, mostly police lights sliding through the snowfall. Their own lights bobbed ahead across the road, showing no clear pavement.

"We're almost there." Mitsuru was leaning forward, hooking her hand over the shoulder of the driver's seat, watching the road as intently as Akihiko. "Yamagishi, what's the ker doing?"

"It's still there." Fuuka leaned back in her seat, eyes closed. "I think it's waiting for us."

* * *

I skip a step back as the best running start I can get, then lunge forward, swinging my blade up. Contact is like water – when my steel touches her, she bursts apart, rippling, widening, limbs splashing out, all still transparent like she's a misshapen lens I'm seeing the world through. I rebound, kick backward, knocking a desk out of the way.

Even with her widened body, ragged edges and two dozen arms, the ker still keeps its female outline at the center, rocking her rainbow hips.

No, I tell Thanatos before he can even suggest it, we are not torching my old classroom – oh shit.

With a shriek, the ker's arms stream towards me, stretching, glassy, and before they even touch me, they throw me into the air, back – my shoulder crashes against a hard, sharp edge – I've hit the window frame, and my heel bangs against the window, shooting a crack across it. Pain up my other leg – landing half on a desk, it slides under me, crashing to its side, throwing me with it. Head-first into another desk, swinging my naginata up like I can block, landing on the floor with my legs still tangled in furniture.

* * *

"I always feel so... wrong, doing this." Yukari glanced over her shoulder.

"C'mon, it's not like we make it a habit." Junpei held the back door open. Only Yukari and Ken hadn't yet gone through. "So just hurry up, Miss Let's Go to the Back Alley and Chat Up Punks Before We Head Up a Psychotic Tower of Doom to Squash Repressed Facets of Humanity."

While Yukari started pitching denials and explanations at Junpei, Ken tapped his foot thoughtfully. "I think Yukari-san has a point," he broke in, both his senpai blinking at him. "Fighting Shadows reminds us we're fighting to protect the world. You can't feel heroic sneaking into a high school."

"Yeah, and getting roughed up by thugs makes you feel heroic?"

"Maybe if you hadn't folded on the first punch, Stupei – "

"Dude, do you _ever_ apologize?"

"What are you guys doing?" called Akihiko from ahead, more than a bite in his voice.

Exchanging glares, they walked in, Ken making sure he closed the door.

"I don't sense the night watchmen," Fuuka was saying, while Mitsuru tutted and said, "I'll have to speak to the school board. We need a much tighter watch on this school." Shinjiro gave her a slow look of muted incredulity. Mitsuru lifted her chin.

"The ker is..." In the depths of Juno, Fuuka stiffened. "It's in your old classroom. 2-F."

"Is it yanking us around again?" Junpei muttered. "I had enough from that Momos guy."

"We should not hesitate." Aigis took several steps towards the staircase, then looked back at the others.

"A-any sign of Arisato?" Mitsuru grimaced. Tension flicked through SEES; nobody, not even Mitsuru, had been expecting her to ask again.

"No," Fuuka said. "There's just the ker."

"Damn," Akihiko said under his breath, then flinched when Shinjiro glared.

Mitsuru led them up the stairway, her foil out, glimmering in the semi-darkness. They made no effort to move silently, spreading out in the hallway, watching the door to 2-F as they approached. No noise came from within.

* * *

Before I can even decide to do it, I wrench my legs free and kick the chair towards the ker. Doesn't get far, slamming into another desk, but it gives me time to rise, and once I've pulled myself forward with my naginata, I hoist myself into another attack, Thanatos erupting.

My blade hits at an angle, the ker resistant now, so I'm thrown into it from my own momentum, my _other_ shoulder punching against it. Cold, clasping hands – its arms are swooping around me – I kick out and glass snaps. I'm falling again, Thanatos roaring, his sword gouging pale scrapes across the ker. I land, hard, roll away. The ker's also fallen back, surface trembling like water. I waver as I stand, blood rushing from my head, limbs throbbing. The ker shivers again, and her wounds mist but don't disappear.

* * *

"Okay, Ken." Akihiko stepped away from the door, letting the boy come forward. "This is your show."

Ken gave a stiff nod, his expression detached but for the line down his forehead. The others positioned themselves, weapons out. Stepping forward, Ken stabbed his spearhead into the door's handle, then jerked it to the right, sliding the door open.

Nothing leapt out.

Ken edged forward, narrowing his eyes, feeling Akihiko and Mitsuru follow closely. He'd never been in here before, but it seemed like an ordinary classroom – orderly desks, blank blackboard, all half-hidden in a blue haze. Then he started.

They all saw it pretty much at once. Lying on the floor by the back row was a transparent shape – a woman, featureless with the tiled floor showing through her. She had an arm behind her head, the other resting on her pelvis. Ken blinked. It glimmered with soft colors, some kind of multicolored belt.

She had to know they were there. She didn't move.

"Well?" Yukari asked.

Akihiko shook his head. "They never make it this easy."

The ker giggled.

* * *

I sidestep, but there's no room. I swing my naginata, shoving two desks into the next row (just a warm up, yeah?). Thanatos hasn't dispersed; I don't have to check to know he's behind me, his head looming high above mine, sepulchers fanned in a mantle.

The ker shimmers, and giggles.

Sparkles in my eyes, and now the sharp, blue-black shadows and angles of my classroom glitter with shards of ice shooting towards me. I swing my weapon, which deflects one or two, then bite down on my lower lip as the remainder of the Bufudyne stabs me. I fight to catch my breath – and something – _something_ hits me, metal slicing up my stomach. I stumble forward, staring at the floor, my blood splattering down – what – the ker didn't even move – how – ?

I don't have to cry for help. Thanatos surges over me, fire rippling around him, light flickering over the scattered desks.

* * *

Blades spinning, Vercingetorix swung away from the ker and vanished. The ker didn't fall back, and suddenly a storm of fire rushed towards SEES, roaring along the ceiling, lighting the desks, burning the night red.

"Holy shit," Junpei panted as the Maragydine dissipated. "What _is_ this thing?"

"That was – " Yukari knelt on one knee, struggling to stand. Her leg slid and she grimaced, casting Mediarahan.

"This is – this is much worse than the last ker," Fuuka said.

"Ken!" Akihiko had positioned himself between the ker and Mitsuru's prone figure; she lay on her side, face tucked into her arm, shaking. "Stay back and let us work on it!"

"But I – "

"He is correct. The ker is not yet weak enough." Aigis' eyes never left the ker. "Save your strength for the killing blow."

* * *

I cough in the smoke – even with the spell gone, the room is charred, the desks' metal legs glowing orange. _Messiah – Messiah, please, I need you –_

But it's just me and Death, and there's no curing to be had. Focusing through the smoke, I find the smeared shimmer of the ker's belt.

I can stand to bleed for a little while.

I run forward and kick into the air.

* * *

"Junpei!" Yukari's voice was almost a scream as Junpei fell back from the ker. The ker hadn't moved, only shimmered, but Junpei's face, his chest was streaked with red. Junpei stepped back, staring down at himself, as if he didn't yet feel pain. Then his body twisted, bent away, and he fell to the ground from a second wound, a deep stab gleaming wetly in the center of his stomach. The ker never moved.

Mitsuru had only just risen to her knees, and seeing Junpei, she cast a shaky Diarahan. Akihiko shot his Evoker, Caesar diving for the ker, making her blaze with lightning. Yukari pressed forward, but the classroom was too crowded, and, biting her lip in frustration, she cast Magarudyne, not on the ker, but on the desks. They all swept into the air and crashed out the windows, obliterating them.

The glass shards rebounded harmlessly over the ker's surface.

* * *

I hear the wind, and it's odd, because I can already tell it's not coming for me – but some blessed instinct tells me to drop and cover my head anyway.

Voices.

What?

The room explodes, metal twisting, wood crashing together – and shatters into a hard, needle-sharp rain. The – the windows – are broken? Why did the ker – ?

No time to wonder.

I struggle to my feet, boots scraping against the glass dust, shaking shards out of my hair. Empty of desks, the classroom's an arena now, with a sharp glittering floor. The windows are loud with the rush of wind, snow streaming inside.

The ker waits on my next attack, but – what's going on? My last hit should have toppled her, but she's just standing there, not even concerned about that first long slash I gave her... Hold it, where are the other wound marks?

Still no time to wonder. Agidyne roars back at me.

* * *

Koromaru's ascended Persona, a wolf comprised mostly of rivets and black flames, came as little surprise to anyone who knew the dog, and the ker certainly didn't appreciate the Agidyne he threw at her.

Or she shouldn't have, but she shrugged off the attack, glimmering.

"There's a weakness." Juno trembled with the strength of Fuuka's concentration. "But I can't – there's something wrong – "

"There's always something wrong," Junpei panted while Athena threw herself at the ker.

* * *

Holy shit, how many attacks does this thing have? I've never seen anything this fast, or with so many different moves.

"Dammit, I – "

Who said – and then, even though the ker still doesn't move, I'm thrown back into the blackboard, something shoving deep into my chest, ripping upward. I tumble, and there's blood spreading out of my chest, and what am I supposed to –

" – try to – "

Has someone heard the fighting? Are they going to break down the door?

Come on, Minako. There's no time to give up.

I totter up, then forward into a run, Thanatos rushing over me. He swings his sword as I kick into the air, sweeping my blade with all my strength.

* * *

"Akihiko!"

Mitsuru's scream, as Akihiko stumbled back, red flaring across his chest and abdomen. Shinjiro shouldered ahead of Junpei, joined Mitsuru in her attack, drawing the ker away from Akihiko. Artemisia and Vercingetorix struck, impossible to say which first.

* * *

"Akihiko!"

I land, stumbling back from the ker, trying to – I heard –

I scream, thrown to the floor, glass shards cutting into me and another unblockable, unseen attack hitting me. No, I'm – this isn't – I'm stronger than this, I can –

"Mediarahan!"

Yukari? Good, I'll be healed and – wait – this isn't Tartarus, Yukari isn't here – But I thought I heard –

My leg slides, blood pumping out of my chest. The ker's watching, Thanatos is within me, waiting for permission to attack. I –

"It's okay, Mitsuru – I can fight – "

Akihiko's voice, low, pained, wait –

Ziodyne snaps around me, blazing across the glass shards.

There's no way I could be – I'm not just hearing things –

Aigis' voice: "Hold your attack, Ken-san, it's still not – "

Blinking my eyes, smeared with blood. The ker. She isn't hurt. I haven't hurt her since the beginning.

She isn't moving. Hasn't.

She isn't the one attacking me.

* * *

In the tumult, inside Juno, reading her friends' attacks and levels of strength, struggling to anticipate the ker's moves, struggling to push through the ker's defenses to read her weakness, a thread of clarity caught in Fuuka's mind.

"The ker's name is Apate," she said. "Deceit."

* * *

Thrown to the ground again, glass biting the back of my head. Thanatos roars with outrage, pushing against my thoughts, trying to overcome me and manifest himself. I scream – he can do it, he's strong enough. He can rip through me just as easily as he tore through Orpheus.

"Stop!" I scream, searching for some trace of Ryoji in the wash of anger, rolling to my hands and knees, naginata vanished, fingers scratching through the pulverized glass. "You – won't – hurt them!"

He roars. He saved me all those years ago, at the first full moon, and he's not afraid to hurt me if he has to. No memory of my friends, or that they were his friends, touches him right now. He's nothing but instinct, and if I lose control, he can unlock more than enough power to kill them. Another attack from somewhere beyond the ker crashes into me, and I brace myself against the floor, trying not to fall.

"Thanatos!" I shout. "I'd rather die!"

* * *

Yukari stepped back from the effects of her Garudyne. "It isn't – why isn't it fighting?"

"Why isn't it wounded?" Shinjiro growled.

Junpei still kept one arm wrapped around his middle, only imperfectly healed. "Dammit, we are taking this shitter _down_!"

Light blazed into Juno's eyes, forcing through Apate's center, reading her strengths and weakness. "Ken-kun!" Fuuka shouted. "Use Hama!"

* * *

I can't say exactly how, whether it's in my soul or not, but Thanatos grabs hold of me, struggling. He's trying to take control, he – no, he – he's clinging to me, commanding himself not to attack, though everything in him wants to.

Thanatos. Thank you.

Light flashes, and splits the world in two. Thanatos screams and falls silent, and the world goes dark.

* * *

Hama was an odd element. In theory, Hama should be just as effective as Hamaon, but some Shadows had always called for a stronger attack than others. Ken panted, shoulders shaking. Somehow, this ker had called for Kala-Nemi's strongest Hamaon yet.

The light dissipated, glittering on the shattered glass, glowing on the snowflakes.

And rolling over the undisturbed surface of the ker.

"Wha – ?" from Junpei.

"Yamagishi!" Mitsuru shouted, furious.

Fuuka stared, her face blank with amazement.

"Why isn't it – " Yukari tried.

"Did you miss?" Akihiko glanced towards Ken.

Ken shook his head, heart pounding. The spell had connected, he'd felt it.

Fuuka firmed her mouth, then closed her eyes, energy radiating from Juno. "There was – the ker was using something as a shield. I can see it now, she's weak to – " Fuuka paused. "Agidyne." Then, with uncharacteristic ferocity, "_Get_ her!"

Junpei and Koromaru rushed forward to do the honors. The ker was lifted into the air, her glassy surface roiling with flames, oily light and shadow. She screamed, then shriveled in on herself, like a wad of trash. With a shriek, she exploded, shards flying, cutting into them as they lifted their arms to protect themselves. Yukari cast Mediarahan even as they relaxed out of their crouches, opened their eyes and looked around.

Fuuka gasped.

With the ker's vanishing, they could see long scores of blood across the floor, mixed in with the glass and snow. A shape lay on its side, face pressed to the ground, long hair tumbled.


	17. Chapter 17

** 17**

Steps.

Hello, steps.

So – it's the stairwell at Gekkoukan, the one that leads to the roof. How did I get here? I was in 2-F and – and the ker showed up, but I wasn't fighting her, and I was somehow fighting my friends _through_ the ker, so I had to stop and –

And, and what?

The steps stare back at me, dimly lit as always. At the top, I can see the thick gray door, the narrow window showing bright white light.

Did they kill me?

If so, wouldn't I have gone back to the Seal? Thanatos?

Can't hear him.

The last attack I felt must have been a Hamaon. Holy shit, did they – if I can kill keres, can Kala-Nemi kill Thanatos?

I take the stairs at a run, throwing the door open, letting it crash against the wall. Dizzying white light. The sky's overcast with stray patches of pale blue. There's a slow, strong wind, bright color unfurling against the clouds – it's yellow. Ryoji's scarf. He's walking along the edge of the roof, slim hands clasped behind him.

"Hey!"

He turns, and his features jump into a delighted smile. "What took you?"

I run over to him, the wind beating my hair. "What's going on?"

"You're asleep again." He spreads his hands in something like a shrug.

I stop just short of him, grabbing his elbows, craning my head back to see his face. "But are you okay? Are you alive?"

He shakes his head, wry. "I might not be, if I wasn't your Persona."

"I don't understand."

"I'm not simply a ker, as long as I'm bound to you. As long as you keep it together, we can't be parted." He taps my cheek with a fine fingertip. "So thanks."

I nod. "Thanks for not nuking our friends."

His expression flickers, eyes unreadable when I remind him of the power he could have unleashed. Is he grateful I stopped him? His fingers brush my cheek again and he lets his hand drop.

"So now what?" I glance to either side, but all I see is the sky, the same old roof, the distant expanse of the city. "What's going on... outside?" By which I mean the real Gekkoukan, where I'm apparently knocked out and the ker's just a few feet away.

"No idea." After a moment – and maybe some effort – he pulls that beautiful smile back on. "Guess we'll have to wait to find out."

I pace, come to the roof edge, about face and pace again. "Well... I'm not on the Seal, so the ker hasn't killed me." Stop pacing. "Why not? Is the ker sportsmanlike?"

"I can't be sure, but... if you're no longer awake and presenting yourself as a target, the ker can no longer have SEES attack you. So – "

"So they're taking care of it now?" I clench my hands. "I hope they grind it into sand." Damn, those hits I felt, those were really powerful. SEES has done well without me.

"Give them five minutes, and they'll undoubtedly destroy it," Ryoji agrees.

"Right. Okay then, so I... I..." I blink. "Wait."

"What?"

"If they defeat the ker, and I'm still unconscious, they're going to – "

Ryoji blinks, slowly. "You're right. They're most definitely going to see you."

His eyes widen at the sound I make – it's somewhere between _damn_ and _argh_ and very high-pitched. "I have to get out of here – _there_ – I have to get away! I can't let them find me or else everything will – " I run to the end of the roof and wheel around. "Help me!"

Ryoji watches me, head cocked, eyebrows raised, and eyes wary. "What do you want me to do? I could manifest and fight them off – "

"No! Don't hurt them. I – " I run my hands through my hair. "I have to get away from them. I have to wake up. _Wake up_, damn you!"

"Minako-chan – "

"I need to get out of here!"

"Minak – "

"Igor! Igor, Velvet Room _now_!"

"Igor can't get in here, you're dream – "

"Igor can always get into my dreams, that's what he _does_!"

"Well – " Ryoji looks around and throws his arms out. "He isn't."

"Ryoji, you understand what I'm – "

"Yes," he interrupts. "I understand." He was the one who vanished into the Dark Hour until December 31 to escape us. "If you must get away from them," and his expression's hardened, "all you have to do is give up your fight. Igor said you can return to the Seal whenever you want to."

"Don't say it!"

He shakes his head.

He knows I can't just leave and – They're here and - I've missed them and - and - and - I've been pacing, and I pitch to a stop, staring at the toes of my boots, the fine-grained cement, my thin gray shadow. "Ryoji." My voice isn't coming. My eyes are hot. "What am I going to do?"

* * *

It didn't look like much at first, a blizzard of glass, the true snowfall blowing in, the long smears of blood. Red pooled beneath the jumbled figure. Dark clothes, one pale knee and thigh.

Aigis stepped forward, light glancing off her metal legs.

"It's..." Yamagishi's voice died into faintness, and only then did Shinjiro realize what he was seeing.

Aigis knelt. Shinjiro pushed past someone, falling hard to his knees, snow twisting around him. He wasn't sure which of them rolled her over, but he got one hand behind her head, tilting it up. The others gathered around, blocking off the flurry, throwing her into even worse shadow.

Glass pricked his fingers, caught in the sweat-damp strands of her hair. Her skin was too pale, purple-red blood clotted across her cheeks and mouth, gleaming on her stomach and chest, glass twinkling at her temples, in the wet folds of her clothes. Shinjiro stared, took in every detail, and still somehow doubted what he was seeing.

Then Athena appeared above them all, flashing, casting Diarahan. Takeba cried out in surprise and followed suit, both of them casting rapidly. The body responded to the spells, the muscles in her arms seizing, twisting slightly towards him. On a reflex, Shinjiro clamped down on her shoulder.

It was really her, he told himself. She was here. He swallowed, and suddenly tried to think of nothing but holding her still so Aigis and Takeba could take care of her.

"She's, she's all right." Yamagishi's voice was thin. "I don't sense any more wounds on her."

"She's still bleeding," Aigis nearly snapped. "There, on her shoulder."

"Over here too." Iori had knelt at some point, reaching across Shinjiro to feel under Mina's left shoulder. Her clothes were all bloody, but blood continued to spread through her jacket there.

"I can't believe this," Kirijo said under her breath.

Shinjiro shifted, got his arm behind her shoulder in order to lift her upper body – and sucked in his breath as he realized her entire back was wet, blood pattering to the floor. Glass glittered down from her hair. Her eyes rolled under her eyelids.

"What happened?" Takeba's voice had a shadow of its usual boldness. "Why is she hurt? Did the ker attack her? What's going on?"

"I think – Fuuka-san said – " Ken recovered his voice quickly. "You said the ker was using something as a shield. I think we almost killed Minako-san."

"Forget that, we need to get her to a hospital." Aki knelt on one knee by Mina's side, but before he could offer any assistance, Shinjiro lifted her. She rested, limp, warm, too much like on the rooftop, and he remembered the heart-stopping fear when he'd realized she was no longer breathing.

But she was breathing now, her weight pressing into his chest, her blood running down his coat. Aigis put her hand behind Mina's ear, keeping her head from jostling.

"I'm not sure we should, senpai," Yamagishi was saying.

"What d'you mean? We can't just let her bleed."

"I don't think – at least, Juno doesn't sense that those wounds on her back are actually hurting her. They're just... for the moment, they're just part of her."

"Still," Iori said, eyes not leaving Mina, "we can't leave her like this."

"I don't know what the doctors will discover when they examine her." Yamagishi closed her eyes, concentrating, and Juno's shape flickered around her as she scanned. "Juno doesn't read her as alive or dead. She's – she's something else, some third state."

Takeba glared and reached one hand for Mina's, holding her fingers. "She's _not_ a ghost."

"We must – " Kirijo started, and then they all heard the distant wail of a siren. All her uncertainty vanished. "Everyone, _move_!"

* * *

The SEES van peeled away before the first police car arrived at Gekkoukan. Mitsuru threw herself behind the wheel and tore out, heedless of the thick snow and slippery road. Shinjiro and Aigis took the first row and sat on either side of Minako, close enough to hold her upright. She made no noise, but her face tightened several times, small fleeting frowns. Junpei leaned over the top of the seat, almost edged out of the way by Yukari and Ken. Koromaru stood guard at her feet.

"Is she gonna wake up?" Junpei asked, apprehensive and impatient. "C'mon, we didn't hurt her that bad, right?"

"She isn't hurt anymore," Fuuka said. In the rush, Akihiko had taken the front passenger seat, and Fuuka sat between the two front seats, totally unbuckled. She reached over Koromaru to touch Minako's fingertips, as if checking her temperature.

On Mitsuru's advice, they entered her apartment building via the back, taking the freight elevator. Shinjiro carried Minako, and Aigis hovered close to the girl's shoulder, keeping the others at a distance. No one was sure why, but then, no one argued with her.

It wasn't even ten-thirty, but luckily they met no one in the corridors, Mitsuru glancing over her shoulder as she unlocked her door. "This way," she said to Shinjiro, including Fuuka and Yukari in her gesture, leading them to the back of the suite. Aigis followed. Koromaru started to, then glanced at Junpei, Akihiko and Ken and evidently chose to commiserate with them.

Mitsuru's bedroom was larger than most apartments in the city, dominated by a tall canopy bed. She grabbed the first cloth that came to hand (it was a robe) and threw it on the coverlet. "Please lay her there, and we'll see what can be done." She gave an uncertain glance to Yukari, who, pleased now that she was purposeful, was already heading for the bathroom. In a moment, they heard the bath faucet going.

Shinjiro didn't immediately obey, looking down into Minako's face. His features were no more responsive than hers, his expression distant. He sighed, then set her down, his front smeared with blood.

Fuuka looked anxiously at Mitsuru, as if unsure how to get rid of him, then Yukari stalked back in, wiping damp hands on her jeans. "Okay, Shinjiro-senpai, we'll see you later."

"You sure you can lift her?" It was the first thing he'd said since the fight, and it was more than a little annoyed. "I don't want you dropping her and cracking her head on the tiles."

"Aigis, take her ankles, I'll get the shoulders. C'mon, Minako, we got you." And Yukari conveyed them to the bathroom, her briskness nearly covering the quaver in her voice.

Watching them, Mitsuru drew her own deep sigh. "This is... this is so much to take in."

Shinjiro watched until the bathroom door closed, then he turned quickly around and left, hiding his face from the others.

Mitsuru and Fuuka glanced at each other, mutually drawing resolve, then went into the bathroom.

* * *

"Her clothes aren't torn."

Nobody had been looking at her clothes, only to peel them off her skin, but now Yukari picked up the edge of the blue and black blazer.

"None of this makes sense," Fuuka said, distractedly sorting the things on the sink. Mitsuru sat on the toilet lid, legs crossed regally, and the others knelt by the tub, which was sunk into the ground. Minako lay within, eyes closed, head thrown back on the lip, hair clinging to her neck and temples.

"The bleeding's definitely gone down," Yukari said, again trying to fill the silence. After undressing Minako, they'd discovered the many wounds on her back, which were bloody but already starting to harden over. By now, the bathwater only blushed red.

"She's wounded on her back. Right where she'd be touching it."

Yukari looked up. "Senpai?"

Mitsuru shifted her weight, sorting her garbled thoughts. "They look like they came from the Seal. As if she were torn off it. That's all I can think of."

"Who could do that? Erebus?"

"But I think he would've killed her," Fuuka said, setting a bottle of hand cream by the toothpaste tube.

"If she'd just wake up – " Yukari drummed her fingers against the tile " – she could tell us."

"If she doesn't run from us immediately."

"We won't let her," said Aigis.

"Aigis... " said Fuuka.

Aigis closed her eyes, like a wince.

Yukari gazed at Aigis a moment, forehead puckered with sympathy, then she reached over and dragged a strand of hair out of Minako's face. She didn't stir. "Come on," Yukari said, "she's soaked long enough. Let's let her get some rest."

* * *

Thoughts of Ryoji drift away, even before I realize what's happening. And I'm running – towards him? I don't know – maybe I'm trying to outrun something, run far enough away so I can stay in this dream, where they can't get me.

My friends.

My persistent friends.

My awful friends.

Oh damn this all.

Who knows what's going on? Maybe the fight's still going. Maybe they're still killing me. Maybe that's for the best. Because it was hard enough to die and become the Seal, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to leave them a second time.

My eyelashes are fluttering. No.

I'm waking up.


	18. Chapter 18

**18**

My vision's blurred and gray when I first open my eyes, but all I see is white. Then I blink and realize I'm staring at a wall, maybe two feet from my face. The space between me and it is nothing but rumpled silver blankets. I'm buried in them, the side of my face submerged in pillow. I can feel another pillow puffing out at the back of my neck, and I think another's worked its way under my hip.

Hold on. Gekkoukan. Big glassy Petri dish ker. My friends. So – ?

From behind me, I hear movement, something plastic being set down on something hard.

I tense in my cocoon.

Igor? Igor, maybe there's still time, if you'd just show up –

Nothing. No Velvet Room appears. Good.

No, wait, I – dammit, look at me, I'm already trying to stay with them, I –

I can't take this anymore. Slowly, I roll over, trying to lead with just one shoulder and surreptitiously peek out, but the blankets rustle with even that small movement.

There's another two feet of bed, and beyond it, Junpei is sitting in a plush rolling chair, legs folded. He's turned slightly away from me, watching a television on mute.

He looks older, his features sharpened some, his goatee more respectable. Tall, but a smidgeon less weedy. Still has that baseball cap though, still wears sneakers and a chain off his belt loops. Not looking over, he reaches for the remote on the side table and changes the channel.

I swallow, and there's still a chance for me to leave, to go back to the Seal and forget they ever found me.

I swallow again. "Junpei?"

He whips around, grabbing onto an armrest to keep from overbalancing out of his chair. His eyes are round, and, seeing that, I feel my eyes go round too. We stare at each other, his mouth tense, the lower half of my face hidden by coverlet.

* * *

It had been a long night. The girls had taken Minako to Mitsuru's room to try to stop the bleeding. That left the five of them waiting in the sitting room. Akihiko had set to pacing, deep in anxious thought. Shinjiro had slouched to one of the windows and stared out. Only Ken had stayed on the couch with Junpei, after a moment allowing Koromaru to jump up. The pup seemed the least concerned. Occasionally, he glanced around the room, ears tilted back with concern, and once he trotted over to the window and went on hind legs to lick Shinjiro's hand. But Koromaru was mostly at ease. Figured, Junpei thought. He was pretty used to the idea of Minako being off her Seal and tearing up Port Island.

For his part, Junpei spent the next half hour speculating with Ken, talking in low voices because neither senpai looked in the mood for conversation.

"If she wants to leave us," Ken had said, fingers kneading Koromaru's ruff, "we're just going to have to accept it." He looked away, eyes bleak.

Junpei nodded reluctantly. Back with the Keys, Yukari and Akihiko had wanted to go back in time and save Minako. Mitsuru had sided with Yukari, maybe for no other reason than that she was Yukari. Shinjiro and Ken had been set against it, and Koromaru had gone with Shinjiro. Junpei had been unwilling to pick a side, though he'd secretly leaned more towards Shinjiro. Aigis was less unwilling to pick a side than unable, needing to know what had truly happened to Minako, though something made Junpei think much of her had agreed with Yukari. Probably everyone should've sided with Fuuka, who hadn't wanted to fight at all.

"I don't wanna fight again," Junpei said, even more under his breath because he really didn't want his senpai hearing _that_.

"I don't know if I'll have to fight anyone else." Ken's voice was solemn, looking, for that moment, even older than Mitsuru. "But I won't fight Minako-san." He squeezed his eyes shut, and though his voice didn't shake, it was young again. "I almost killed her."

Luckily the girls had come back in then, minus Aigis, saying they'd bathed and dressed Minako and put her in Mitsuru's bed. Drawing up the order in which they'd keep watch over Minako had taken only a few minutes, and then the girls had gone into the study and the guys had stretched out in the sitting room, and everyone had tried to sleep. Junpei's thoughts kept him awake – even during the few times he didn't feel anxious, his thoughts simply moved too fast – and he didn't drop off until two or so.

Akihiko shook his shoulder at nine o'clock. Junpei jolted, then sat up, gave a jaw-aching yawn. "Anything, senpai?"

"Not yet," Akihiko muttered, flumping into one of the easy chairs.

Junpei stretched and shuffled towards the short hallway. Ken was curled up with Koro on the couch, Shinjiro nowhere to be found. Mitsuru might be out somewhere, and Fuuka was probably still asleep in the study. He knew Yukari and Aigis were supposed to be at work today. As anxious as she was, Yukari was always dead set on taking things in stride, and he wondered if she had succeeded in getting Aigis out of the apartment. Everyone wanted to stay in today.

He opened the bedroom door silently. Pale morning light slanted in, softer and cleaner than the snow outside. He couldn't see much of Minako in the blankets, only her forehead and her hair. The girls had described the weird wounds on her shoulders and back, but he didn't see any flecks of blood on the blankets or pillows, so he figured she really was okay now.

_What'll I do if she wakes up?_

He shook the thought away, sat in the chair that someone must have pulled up to the bedside during the night, and clicked on the TV.

He'd gotten through the morning news segment about the "bizarre break-in at Gekkoukan High School", the rerun of an exposé on aliens, and part of a documentary about wallabies when he heard it: "Junpei?"

He spun. They stared at each other, him in his chair, her nothing but big red eyes and blankets, and for a moment he wanted to laugh because she looked so damn stupid. He cleared his throat. "M-Mina-tan?"

She blinked, and her eyes darted around the room, then back to him. "Hi?"

"You okay?" He straightened. "You need anything?" And gestured to the thermos of chicken broth someone had set on the bedside table during the night. "You're hungry, right?"

Minako watched him, then the blankets rustled and she pressed them up against her face. Junpei could see the shape of her shoulder hunch. He leaned forward. Was she hurt? Was she crying? Should he leave?

There was a long moment, then he heard her exhale, sharply. Then more rustling and she pushed herself upright, hair tangled, Mitsuru's too-big nightgown almost slipping off one shoulder. She leaned back on the headboard, staring at him, eyes glimmering. One corner of her mouth twitched. "I can't believe it. It's you."

"It's _me_?" Surprise seeped in and out of laughter. "I – _I'm_ alive, Miss Arisato. There's nothing special about seeing me. Now if I happened to see someone who's dead, _that'd_ be something."

She smiled and wiped her face and seemed unable to settle herself. "So – so where is everyone? What happened?"

A bit unfair, Junpei thought, that she was demanding explanations before explaining a thing herself. "You okay?" he found himself asking again. "I mean, after the fight and all. We didn't know what was happening," he said quickly. "That the ker was – you know. We wouldn't've been fighting it if we'd known."

She'd sunk back against the headrest, still tired. "It's okay. I gave you guys a few whacks before I figured it out."

He smiled – almost cursorily – then looked anxious again. "You, uh... You mind explaining what's been going on?"

She glanced away, and her lower lip pushed up, a stubborn look he remembered her learning from Yukari. "It's hard to know where to start."

"Okay, let's keep it simple." He spread his hands. "Why d'you keep running away from us?"

She'd slumped even further, was pretty much lying down again, arms loosely crossed on the coverlet. She looked over but didn't answer, running her gaze over him. She didn't seem sad so much as exhausted and resigned, though he couldn't guess what she was resigned to.

"I ran because I can't go eat ramen with you anymore."

Junpei blinked.

She sighed and stared up at the canopy. "I bet you went to my funeral and everything. I'm not just... your old best friend. I'm a ghost now."

He'd hurdled that mental barrier ages ago. "You're right here," Junpei mentioned, pointing to the floor for emphasis. "With me. And I can, like, poke you."

"But I'm not here to stay," she snapped, not looking over. "I'm going to go back to the Seal. So I – " She brought a hand up, rubbed her face. "It all has to be different. With everyone. Right?"

Junpei waited until she looked over again, then he sat up straight, hands braced on knees. "Dude. You want ramen, I will go and get you ramen."

"Can't you just _agree_ with me?"

He put on his best smile. "Yeah, about that... I don't think so."

She sighed and closed her eyes. She was still pretty pale. Probably still needed rest. Junpei waited quietly to see if she'd open her eyes or say anything else, but all she did was breathe more slowly.

He couldn't say he'd gotten any huge answers, only that Minako was all tied up about being dead. (Kinda stupid when _they_ were all fixated on her being here, running around in the land of the living.) There was something brittle about her. Junpei didn't like it. It was too much like how she'd been when she'd first learned the truth about Ryoji, the closest Junpei had ever come to hating her, and the closest Minako had come to hating herself.

After fifteen minutes of quiet, Junpei figured it was safe. He clicked off the TV and tiptoed out of the room, ready to tell the first person he met there'd been a breakthrough.

* * *

Mitsuru had appropriated the coffee pot early that morning and forgotten to circulate it. Akihiko knocked on the study door, hearing her talking, the smooth flow that meant she was on the phone and giving orders. She glanced over as he walked in, then went back to pacing, phone to ear. Akihiko filled a mug he'd found in the kitchen. He usually took his with cream, but he decided he'd be all right with black coffee this morning.

"I texted Yukari."

He looked over. Mitsuru had ended her call, resting her phone on her collarbone.

"About Arisato waking up," Mitsuru clarified. Junpei'd told them all the news about a half hour ago, and while it was welcome, they now found themselves anxiously waiting the next time she woke up, when she'd be stronger. Mitsuru looked distantly across the room. "I left it to her discretion when and how to inform Aigis."

Akihiko had not been awake when Yukari and Aigis had left for work, and he could only imagine how unwillingly the robot must have left. He took a gulp of coffee. "You're planning something."

She glanced over, more wary than guilty. Then she sighed. "I'm trying to predict Arisato's course of action."

Akihiko's tone was rueful, not demanding."I'd like to keep her here, if I could. She shouldn't feel ashamed just because she's dead."

"You think she's ashamed?"

Akihiko shook his head. Mitsuru offered no analysis of her own. Neither of them had ever made a quick study of feelings.

"Well," Junpei said, strolling in with his own coffee mug, "I'm not saying it isn't kind of awkward. But..."

"But?" Mitsuru prompted while Junpei tipped the pot over his mug.

Junpei took a deep breath. "Life's gonna hurt, no matter what you do. Might as well hurt with your friends." He glanced to either side. "Is the sugar and stuff back in the kitchen?"

* * *

I dream again of Ryoji, except that neither of us comments on what's going on, or my friends or the keres or anything like that. So maybe it's a real, honest dream this time. We're sitting on the front steps of Gekkoukan playing dice, which is weird because I don't know how to play dice, and Mr. Ekoda used to snarl at any students he caught sitting on the steps. Anyway, Ryoji wins, and I wake up, facing a high, pale gold canopy. I don't know where I am exactly, but this has got to be Mitsuru's bed.

Soft breathing to my right. I turn, and give a little start.

This has got to be Ken. He's hit a growth spurt and looks too thin for his height. His face is hardening, but he still has his long eyelashes. He's curled up in the chair, cheek practically resting on his knees.

I pull my eyes from him, trying hard to not linger sentimentally over him – over thoughts of any of them. How much time has passed? The clock on the bedside table reads 10:03. I'm assuming this is the same day as before, and – I realize as my stomach shudders with hunger – they've taken away that thermos that probably had something edible in it.

I need to get out of here. I need to think.

Slowly, I sit up and push the coverlet away. And this has got to be Mitsuru's nightgown, a white sleeveless thing that could almost be a formal. The hem falls over my feet, the bottom half of the skirt filmy and translucent. There'd be no running away in this thing.

Did Mitsuru think that far ahead?

I close my eyes, take a deep breath. All right. I'm here. My friends have seen me, I've talked to Junpei, there is no undoing this. Running out on them now wouldn't just be cruel, it'd be cowardly.

Good, because I really want to see them again. No, I – Argh.

Eyes open. Silently out of bed, lifting my hem clear of my feet. Ken frowns and mutters something under his breath as I tiptoe past and listen at the door. It's quiet. Okay, first vanquish the hunger pangs, then figure out how to cope.

I tippy-toe-jog down the hallway, skirt swirling, drop to a halt when I come to a sitting room. Koromaru's curled up on the sofa, deeply asleep. There're muted voices to my left – there, from behind that door. I tip my ear towards it, trying to make out the words.

"...papers think it's another terrorist attack..."

"...Bridge was bad enough..."

Mitsuru and Akihiko, businesslike as always. I doubt they'd be hanging out in the kitchen, so maybe it's that door over there? Unless this suite doesn't have one...? C'mon, please, at least have a fridge. I haven't eaten anything since yesterday's pocky.

I lean my ear against the further door – no voices, no one walking around – and ease it open.

And immediately hear liquid bubbling. I clamp my fingers on the doorknob, but it's too late. I've seen it, and I can't move.

There's a pot on one of the stove burners, a savory smell coming from it. One hand leaning against the cool part of the stove, shoulder cocked. Profile turned to a newspaper page. Aproned, hair pulled back with a wrap, reading the food and dining section. His expression doesn't change as he glances over, impatient and withdrawn.

Then it does. Eyes widen, shoulders brace.

I'm supposed to bounce over. _Senpai, want to get something to eat? Let's take Koro-chan for a walk! Can we go somewhere alone? Why should you do what I say? Because I outrank you._ I'm supposed to be thoughtful and upbeat and to push him into doing what he secretly wants to. Who knows how long I would've spent doing just that, given the chance?

As it is, we're watching, surprise pushed aside as we size each other up. He has to say something, or how am I supposed to know what to do? What's happened to him in the past two years? He must've changed.

Someone has to do _something_. I just wish it wasn't me. Slowly, consciously commanding each movement, I straighten and step in. Even with the door shut, I keep my hands on the knob. Other than following me with his eyes, he hasn't moved. It isn't like our reunion on the rooftop; there's none of that urgency, that happy surprise.

Maybe this is okay. It'll be easier if things aren't like that. I let out a shaky breath and try on a smile. "I was hungry."

He glances towards the pot and clears his throat. Puts down the paper, setting both hands back against the stove front.

Shinjiro's always quiet. He's awesome that way. This isn't a good silence. "Um," I say. "I'm glad to see you. I'm glad you're okay." He's alive, so he's healthy now, right?

His shoulders lift as he takes in a breath, and he breaks eye contact. His mouth opens like he's about to speak, then his teeth click shut.

My fingers are twisting together on the doorknob. "Wrong thing to say?"

He winces and shakes his head, still looking away.

I break away from the door, if only because I can't stand the way I'm worrying my hands behind my back. I take one or two steps forward, the tile cold against my toes. We're close now. Shinjiro's watching me again.

Nothing's going right. It's been two years. Nothing's ever the same again. I shrug my elbow at the door. "I'll just come back later."

He moves – his shoulders sort of lunge forward – and then he rocks back, looking quickly at me, then away. My neck goes hot. He looked like he was about to headbutt me, but I – I think I know better. Which means that he still...

My heart's beating too fast, and maybe with fear. I need to walk away. It's easier if it isn't like this. He refuses to look at me head on, and he's got to be thinking the same thing.

Somehow, the idea that he's insisting to himself that this is how it _should_ be, that this is how it _has_ to be – that he has to distant and self-denying and miserable just because things are _harder_ – steadies my heartbeat. My skin's still hot, my eyes narrowing in impatience. "Shinji."

He glances over, surprised, I think, at the nickname.

"Don't be a martyr."

He grimaces, starts to move – and I spring, landing hard, arms going round his neck as he catches me, thudding against the stove. I duck my head, his face pressed into my neck and collar bone.

In a bit, I straighten, able to look down at him, lips parted as he catches his breath, eyes red-rimmed from bad sleep. His throat moves as he swallows. "Are you all right?"

It takes me a few seconds to pull my mind back to keres and fights."Yeah, I'm – " And I break off, looking into his eyes, because my mission is not what I want to think about. _"Shinji."_ I close my eyes and kiss him, and far away in my thoughts I wish this was all a dream. Because I could say everything then and not have to pay the consequences.

While I'm kissing his temple, his left arm suddenly flails out and back, nearly capsizing the both of us and sending me sliding down his front. Blinking away starbursts, I notice that the pot is overflowing with foam and Shinjiro's just wrenched the stove off.

I'm not sure if I'm more laughing or indignant. "You were thinking about _cooking_?" He glares as he moves the pot to a cool burner, but he also keeps one arm around me, pressing me to him. I lean into his apron front and try to get my arms around his waist, but he's backed up against the stove and making things difficult. "Shinji!"

"What?" His hand drops to my shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just – it's you!" I squeeze his ribcage. "And you're not – " – _dying_, I almost say, but things aren't that easy. We aren't going to stay together. "I just – I've – I've missed you."

His posture softens, and he hugs me. I feel his chin drop to the top of my head. "I couldn't die," he mutters, "after you..." He straightens slightly and I know he's switching what he was about to say. "After you found that damn pocketwatch."

"You need to live as long as you can." _Live until you're so old you barely remember me. _I push my thoughts away from the vision of old age Geras showed me. "And not just because I said so. You – you deserve lots of good memories." I reach up for the back of his head again, bringing his face down to mine. His expression is still dark; I can't see that choosing to live and fight has made him any more light-hearted, but maybe there's something more peaceful about him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he not-quite snaps.

I've been studying his features from a distance of about two inches. And, looking at him, I can't help but smile, because even after everything – Graduation Day and Nyx and Takaya's gunfire – I still know him. I know exactly who he is.

He grimaces (because apparently me staring at him and grinning means I'm making fun of him), and he cuts the distance with a kiss.

Between us, my stomach growls.

"Don'tlistentomystomach," I say as he breaks away and says, "Siddown."

"But – "

"You said you were hungry."

Invincible argument. He turns back to the stove and I trail away from him, keeping my hand on his arm until I sit. The kitchen's small and pretty, yellow-walled with a view to the park behind the apartment building. Shinjiro lifts a ladle of whatever he's making to his lips, and glances back to ascertain I'm still there. I'm not cooking, so I have the advantage of never having to look away. He reaches into the one of the cabinets and grabs a bowl, ladling some kind of soup into it.

"You've been cooking?" I suppose if he needs to relax after yesterday's uproar, that's the way to do it.

He gets a spoon and passes it and the bowl to me. Chicken soup, made with carrots, celery, onions and little star-shaped pasta. "Think you can keep it down?"

"I'm going to want another bowl." I'm already slurping it down, and it is a collage of flavor. "I'm starving."

"Take it easy." He's rummaging in the fridge. "You don't want to eat too much after yesterday's fight." He comes out with a carton of orange juice.

"Shinjiro – " I start to say, and the break in my voice is at odds with everything, the kitchen, the soup, being so close to him.

He looks over. I force a smile.

* * *

Junpei whistled as he strolled down the street, earning more than a few aggrieved glares from passers-by. He'd just come from a late breakfast with Chidori, and things were looking up. Now that she knew there was – _something_, something vaguely important – he was doing out here, she was much more relaxed about spending an indefinite amount of time in Port Island. (A little too relaxed. He'd said, _Chidori, what about money, this isn't the cheapest area, and, you know, still dangerous,_ and she'd lowered her lashes and shrugged, then ordered another cup of tea.) And she still regarded him with a slight respect. She'd asked if he could tell her what he was up to.

Junpei had fiddled with his chopsticks, thought a moment, then said that SEES was unexpectedly catching up with an old friend. Which had reminded him that he should get back to the suite in case that old friend woke up again and needed to be restrained from leaving the premises... that is, reasoned with. Which saw him now heading for Mitsuru's, whistling.

"Whoa!" he yelped as something metal banged into his shoulder. He stumbled forward, grabbed the bruise that was already forming, and looked up to see Aigis charging ahead of him down the street, skirt snapping in the wind.

"Hey – hey – " Yukari puffed up behind him, jogging, and brought herself to a stop by latching onto his throbbing shoulder. As she didn't notice him clench his teeth with pain, she straightened, feebly calling out, "Aigis! Please slow down!"

"What happened? Did – did Mina-tan wake up again?"

"No. Not that I know of." Yukari took a deep breath and then set off at a walk, trusting Junpei to follow. He did. "Mitsuru texted me earlier about Minako waking up. And she told me to break it to Aigis. So I – " She gestured vaguely. " – went back and forth about it. You know, _Do I tell her now, do I wait until we meet for lunch? _Then, at about ten-thirty, I look up from the counter and there is Aigis charging past the boutique at Mach 5. So I... I just yelled at the manager that there's a family emergency and went tearing after her." She puffed out her breath. "Man, Aigis can clock. Look at her, she's almost there."

Junpei rubbed his shoulder, but tried to be secretive and manly about it. "We need to hurry. We can't have her busting into Mina-tan's room – "

"Oh damn," Yukari said under her breath, then leapt forward into a run.

They caught Aigis as she was waiting for the elevator, staring at the numbers as if willing them to descend.

"Ai-chan," Junpei said, grabbing her upper arm, "c'mon, what's wrong? What's the rush?"

She didn't look over, and he thought he could feel her metal limb vibrating with energy. "I should not have left. My place is beside her."

"Yeah, but we talked about this," Yukari said, holding her other arm, and as one the three of them stepped into the elevator. "It's Minako's decision whether she stays with us or goes on her own."

"Nevertheless," Aigis said, "as long as she is with us, my place is with her."

Hopefully it wasn't simply their holds on Aigis' arms that restrained her from gunning down Mitsuru's door. Junpei rang the bell, and Akihiko's eyebrows jumped when he saw them all, Junpei's and Yukari's faces anxious and flushed from running, Aigis' face intensely impassive.

"What's up? "

"Uh..." Junpei straightened his cap, which had nearly fallen off. "Aigis wants to see Mina-tan." And then Aigis wrenched herself free of them (leaving Yukari and Junpei with aching fingers) and shoved past Akihiko, who flattened himself against the wall in favor of contending with her metal body.

"What's – " Mitsuru started, stepping out of the study just in time to see Aigis charge past her, heading towards the hallway.

"Aigis is – " Fuuka started, poking her head around the study door, watching a stream of SEES flow to the bedroom.

Koromaru put his ears back and whimpered, then jumped over the back of the sofa to join the pack.

Aigis paused just long enough to listen at the door, then pushed it open, the others following. Ken jolted out of sleep, starting upwards in his chair, sending it spinning in a circle. "What happened?"

Aigis stopped in her tracks, the others clustered behind her. Ken's chair slowly revolved so that he could see the bed.

It was pale, cool, rumpled and quite empty.

"Ken, what – "

"Where did – "

"How long has – "

"Where could she –"

Aigis spun, parting SEES as she threw herself down the hallway, eyes locked forward. The others followed, accelerating as they went. If Minako was still in the apartment, there was only one place she could be.

Aigis threw the kitchen door open. The others piled up behind her, craning up and around to see inside.

Shinjiro stood at the sink, slicing fresh strawberries into a bowl. He looked over at their entry, frowning at the intrusion, though there was the crumb of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Haloed in a spill of light across the table, Minako sat in front of a smoking bowl of chicken soup. A tall stack of buttered toast stood at her elbow, there was a mostly-empty glass of orange juice to one side, and a large mug of tea waited by her left hand. She looked up, spoon in mouth.

Aigis lunged.


	19. Chapter 19

**19**

I catch my breath, part-hissing in pain as Aigis thuds into me, but that's not important. My arms meet around her back before I tell them to. She's metal; she's supposed to be a machine, no pulse, no nerves, but I can feel her trembling, like she's shivering in the cold. Her arms are clamped around me. I pat her between the shoulder blades, fighting tears – then think _who cares?_ and lean my forehead into her shoulder, letting the tears fall. She'll forgive me if I rust anything.

"Minako-san," she sobs.

"Hi," I sniffle. She doesn't move. I grasp her shoulder and try to rock her a bit, but she's stronger than me, so it doesn't really work. The others are talking. Cautiously, I lift my face, reaching around to rub my eyes on my wrist.

"You can't go," Aigis whispers. "Please."

There's no way to answer that. I stroke the back of her head, taking in the others as they crowd the front of the kitchen. Akihiko looks so adult in that dark jacket – and when did Fuuka turn so elegant? – and Mitsuru's biting her lip and blinking hard, she probably can't trust any of this enough to smile – and Yukari's like a little kid, she can't keep still, dodging around Junpei and Ken, eyes so wide she looks scared.

"Shoulda figured she'd be getting food," Junpei says, giving Yukari a smug glance.

Aigis' arms around me tighten; if they get any tighter, she'll bruise me (I too clearly remember studying the splotches on my arms and back the day after we met on Yakushima). My throat's swollen, so I just hold out my hand to the group.

Fuuka takes it, her hand surprisingly firm. "Minako-chan!"

Her speaking to me releases something, because now everyone's talking loudly, and to me. Akihiko moves around to the side and manages to get a hand on my shoulder. Yukari squeezes between Junpei and the table. Ken's somehow slipped through his larger senpai and is right at my side, forehead furrowed, trying to apologize for something I can't catch. Koromaru barks under the table, forepaws braced on my shins, and Junpei complains about not getting a hug in. Fuuka squeezes my fingers, maybe to let me know she's still there because I can't see her anymore, and Shinjiro grumbles something over by the stove. Mitsuru stays at the opposite end of the table, which has been shoved all out of alignment, but I can see she's gripping the edge for support and she's smiling – and crying, does she even notice that? – and someone else's wet cheek is pressed up to mine – Yukari's, she's got one arm around my head – and Aigis still hasn't loosened her grip.

I'm laughing and hiccupping (and snorting) when Akihiko leans up to his full height, a shaky grin on his face. "C'mon, give her some room! This can't be good for her."

"Like hell this isn't good for me," I say before I can think, reaching across to finally shake Mitsuru's hand. She's composed herself, eyelashes glittering. Then I reach around and pet Aigis' shoulder. "It's okay. I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

Aigis pulls in a breath and straightens, not entirely loosening her arms. In this position, a human would still have to be leaning part of her weight on me, but something in Aigis' interior mechanics compensates. So she's almost hovering, eye to eye with me, only her arms making contact. I watch as she searches my face. Her gaze is firm, focused, but there's something fearful in her eyes. Is she waiting for me to tell the truth, that I'll be leaving her again as soon as possible?

Maybe my face falters, because she ducks her head. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be – Be happy, Aigis! C'mon."

"I am happy," she sobs, and then she releases me and straightens, and at least she _is_ smiling now.

"I'm sorry, Minako-san," says another voice, close by.

"_Stop_ being sorry!" Almost reflexively, I reach for Ken, smooshing his cheek against mine.

He doesn't really hug back and keeps talking: " – didn't know what was happening, only that Kala-Nemi had to kill it, so I used Hama – "

"It's fine – and damn, you're tall." (How much milk did this kid drink?)

" – speaking of which," Mitsuru's saying, "what do you know about the keres? How many are there? Do – "

" – I can scan now if you want – "

" – think we should train, we don't know what's coming next – "

"If you need some clothes, Minako, I can swing by my apartment and get – "

"Hey, senpai, maybe the rest of us can get some lunch?"

"Tch, what?"

I release Ken, who still looks somewhat abashed, in order to look at all of them, arguing, mashing up half a dozen conversations that don't fit. They keep glancing at me, asking something, not always waiting for an answer. I just sit, joy and guilt flickering through me.

"What do you think?" Akihiko asks and waits long enough for me to answer.

I need a moment to gather myself. "About finding the next ker?"

Am I supposed to still be their leader? I don't have an endless ream of Personas anymore, and SEES has been operating fine without me.

Mitsuru catches my eye, and she lifts her eyebrows. _We're waiting,_ she's saying.

"It seems like you've been operating a lot by night."

Junpei helps himself to a slice of my toast. "That's when the keres have been showing up. I guess they don't want to attract too much notice."

"Yeah, way to go with that." Yukari pulls a face. "The police have cordoned off Gekkoukan. They're wondering if there's some kind of anti-Kirijo group. First they attack the Kirijo bridge, then the Kirijo school..."

"Yeah, about the Moonlight Bridge," Akihiko says, fixing me with his eyes, "was that – "

Mitsuru crosses her arms. "Yes. How about before we make any plans, we find out exactly what's been going on?"

I try for a smile. "... Where exactly do you want me to start?"

* * *

Shinjiro quickly caved and doled out more soup, and Fuuka and Yukari grabbed sandwich fixings from the fridge, and it was a very long and talkative lunch, explanations (and surprise) on both sides. When the conversation turned to the past two years and all that had happened, Minako set her food down, sat back and hardly interrupted. Junpei couldn't quite place her expression – sad and content? – but sometimes a giddy little smile would break though, and she'd bite her lower lip as if to keep from laughing, even when the discussion wasn't all that funny.

Eventually they started to get up, clear the table, and Mitsuru's phone rang again, forcing her into the next room. Akihiko got up to follow. Fuuka insisted on helping Shinjiro with the dishes. Finding the seat next to Minako vacant, Junpei took it, leaning his elbows against the table. "So how you feel?"

"Um." She looked around the kitchen, eyes lingering on Shinjiro at the sink. "I kinda feel like... if Fuuka's not going to scan until later in the day... I'd like to take a walk."

"Hey, hey, whoa. This isn't just some ploy to sneak away from us again?"

She grimaced as she finished her tea. "I'm not good at that kind of thing."

"Well, let's take a walk."

Minako glanced at Shinjiro again, who was busy, then over at Aigis. She was leaning against the far wall, watching. "Wanna come too, Aigis?"

She looked hopeful, then shook her head. "No, not now, Minako-san. I must... I wish to think."

Not the greatest answer, but Minako didn't press her, standing. "All right, Junpei. Show me the sights of Tatsumi Port Island 2012."

"Uh." Yukari had just stepped around the table, grinning dubiously. "You're going outside in _that_?"

"Huh? Oh. Um." Minako looked down at the nightgown's low neckline, her toes peeking out from the filmy hem. "Well, you know, it's pretty..."

"Let's see how your clothes did in the wash." Grabbing her wrist, Yukari towed Minako out of the kitchen, eliciting surprised looks from Fuuka and Shinjiro.

Five minutes later, Yukari and Minako came back out of Mitsuru's room, proving that her clothes had done rather well for themselves, perfectly mended, bloodless, and rather crisper than un-dry-cleaned clothes should be.

"It doesn't look too different, does it?" Junpei asked as he, Minako and Yukari strolled Port Island's sidewalks.

"Well, they added that wing to Paulownia," Yukari said, gesturing to the mall. "There's this great new clothes store, they have their own fashion consultant. We should – we should check it out," she said, her pleasant tone faltering a half-second. And, a bit lamely, "If we get the chance."

It was too normal, Junpei couldn't help thinking, wandering around again with Minako. Briefly, he wondered how much he should accept that. "Dude, forget clothes." He butted his shoulder against Minako's. "There's this new restaurant on Memorial Drive. They will cook anything you bring in tempura. Kenji and I went there, and he brought a beef bowl – "

The conversation meandered, covering their old classmates and acquaintances, the three of them walking heedlessly, ignoring passers-by.

" – seriously we all thought he was going to be fired. And then of course," Junpei was saying as they passed Naganaki Shrine, "Mr. Ekoda was the one always trying to talk to the police after – " He broke off, unsure how to continue, or if to continue.

"After?" Minako looked over, and something clicked in her eyes. "After I died?" She snorted. "I'm sure he had plenty of good stuff to say about me."

Junpei watched her peripherally. "Well – well, the press mostly talked to Ms. Toriumi, if they talked to any of the teachers. She always liked you, so she didn't say anything bad. The, uh, the principal gave you a public eulogy."

Eyebrow lift. "What'd he say?"

"Nothing really." Yukari shrugged distastefully. "Nothing he couldn't say about any other student he didn't know. But there was this push afterwards, about how the school was overworking the students. Because they thought you died of exhaustion."

"Close enough."

"And there were going to be all these reforms, but then the parents got pissed because they thought the school was going too easy on us – "

"And, uh, we all got questioned, seeing as we were with you when you died," Junpei said. "Kurosawa-san made sure – that is, the police didn't really suspect us of anything."

"Though there were rumors," Yukari added bitterly.

"Man, were there rumors."

Minako raised her eyebrows again.

"Well, you know..." Junpei lowered both his head and his voice, mouth spreading in a smile. "A beautiful young student dies on Graduation Day on the school roof. What happened? Was it a broken heart? Did she get involved with a bad crowd? Did she... know too much?"

"This isn't one of your Junpei's Believe It Or Don'ts," Yukari snapped.

"There was a media stir for a while," Junpei went on, hitting his stride. "But then it died down. The reporters and cameras left. And then people started to wonder... _What's that strange breeze I always feel when I come to the roof during school hours? What was that soft voice I heard when I was making out with my girlfriend on the rooftop after class? What was that shape I saw out of the corner of my eye? If I go up there at night and whisper her name three times, will she really appear and try to throw me off the roof? If I fall asleep on her bench, will I wake up with her arms around me?"_

"Stop it, Junpei! Minako doesn't have to hear all this crap."

"C'mon, she loves ghost stories. Right, Mina-tan?"

Minako had been gazing at the sidewalk, eyes lost, but then she looked over and gave a smug giggle. "Has anyone seen me with blood all down my front and a murder implement in my hand?"

"I'll start the rumor," Junpei said while Yukari rolled her eyes. "People can summon you by walking around a classroom and chanting your name, and you're going to appear brandishing a bloody tuning fork."

"Oh, classy," Yukari drawled as Minako laughed.

* * *

Mitsuru found Akihiko and Shinjiro outside in the chilly afternoon, sitting on a bench in the small park. They didn't see her approach, and from what she could tell, they weren't talking, Akihiko staring out into traffic. Shinjiro kept making small tossing motions with one hand, and there was a jumble of pigeons bobbing near his boots. She wondered if they'd been arguing – but that usually resulted in one or the other storming off – and as she came closer, Akihiko turned his head and she saw an easy smile on his face.

"You seem to be in good spirits," she called out, announcing her presence. Akihiko straightened and Shinjiro shoved a small bag back into his pocket. The pigeons looked up at him imploringly.

"Why not?" Akihiko asked. "We're all back together."

"For now," Mitsuru said, even though she knew it would darken Akihiko's mood. It did. She hesitated by the bench, searching herself, then said honestly, "Though I admit, I can't help feeling happy either." She glanced at Shinjiro, but she couldn't place his expression, neither pleased nor preoccupied. She took it as a favorable sign. "May I join you?"

Shinjiro raised a lazy eyebrow, and Akihiko blinked, then scooted over to the middle of the bench. Mitsuru sat. "I left my phone in the suite," she said after a moment, ducking her head away from both of them. "I thought I should... concentrate on what's important right now."

They sat in silence a while. It was sunny with a slight wind, unfurling loose snowflakes before dropping them. Presently, Shinjiro withdrew the little bag out of his pocket and recommenced scattering breadcrumbs.

"I don't care what happens," Akihiko said, not so much breaking the silence as easing into sound. "I'm glad we tracked her down."

Shinjiro glanced over, and Mitsuru raised her eyebrows. As her stare grew prolonged, Akihiko drummed his gloved fingers on his knee. "So?"

She shook her head, a dry smile hitching her lip. "I can't look at it that simply. I can't let one moment stand isolated and be happy. I must... always be looking towards an uncertain future." She turned away. "I'm not reckless." And back. "Or perhaps you're just happy because there are still three more keres to fight?"

Akihiko smiled at the jibe. "I can't say the future isn't important. I'd never say that. But it's just speculation. You have to pay attention to what's happening in front of you. That's what's determines whether you win or lose."

"I hardly know how to act if I can't imagine the consequences."

"Face the moment and meet it _corps-à-corps_."

She laughed at the fencing term. "Or strike it with a pivot jab?"

"No, probably not, because it throws off your speed and – " He broke off, only then realizing she'd been joking. His laugh was more self-conscious. "Yeah, all right. If that's what the moment calls for."

She smiled back, and they both let their eyes drop. Akihiko stared at his hands, slid off his knees, fingers loosely laced. Mitsuru knew because she was watching them too.

She shook herself and looked around. "Where's Shinjiro?" Akihiko's gaze twitched to his other side. That end of the bench was empty. A few pigeons still nosed the dirt, looking for crumbs, but most had bumbled away. Akihiko looked back over at her, questioning and intent.

Somehow, Mitsuru didn't feel safe looking away, though looking at him didn't set her at ease either. She caught her breath in her chest. She wanted to say his name, but had no idea what she meant to say afterward, and she fought a moment to remain silent. It was only for a second, and Akihiko didn't look away, focused entirely on her.

Words broke through the surface. "Are you cold?"

He blinked, then frowned and looked out across traffic. "No." His cheeks were suddenly stung red by the chilly air, and he puffed out his breath. Mitsuru lowered her gaze to her crossed legs, her folded hands, a pale nest on her right thigh. Her breath loosened from her chest and steadied itself.

Akihiko went back in shortly. Mitsuru fell in step beside him, and by the time they reached the elevator, they were discussing trivialities.

* * *

We fall silent when we stroll in front of the old dormitory. I slow down as I pass, counting up the windows to my own bedroom. There's something glinting in my window, a hanging stained glass design.

I wait until there's a block between us and the dorm. "So, do you know who moved in after us?"

Yukari glances over her shoulder. "Oh – some kids. Mitsuru-senpai bought it last year, though she still lets the school use it. I don't think she'll ever get rid of it."

Digging his hands in his pockets, Junpei shakes his head. "I haven't been back there. It'd be so weird walking in, and there're all these strangers sitting in the lounge. I wonder if anyone ever found that soy sauce stain under the couch. I always felt so bad about that."

"It was Koro's fault more than yours," I say.

"Yeah, but how can I explain what I was doing under the couch in the first place...?"

"Hey, Junpei! Yukari-san! Hold up!"

Alarm jolts through me, because that sounds like Kenji Tomochika, but I don't dare turn around and let him recognize me. Junpei thumps the small of my back and I set out at a brisk walk while Yukari and Junpei stop. "Just hang a left at the next intersection," Junpei calls after me, "and you should get there fine!"

I'm moving fast, but I can still hear them, Kenji jogging to Junpei's side. "Who's the chick?"

"Just someone who needed directions," Yukari says quickly.

"Oh, okay. Anyway, dude – I did it. _I did it!_ I sent Aimi-san the flowers! I just hope her son doesn't find out, he's in the year above me..."

"Dude, have you seen a psychiatrist yet?"

And then I hang a left at the next intersection and am out of hearing range. There's no knowing how long Kenji will tie Junpei (and possibly Yukari) up, and since I really have no intention of bailing on SEES now, I guess I should head back for Mitsuru's.

Though... as I test, I stand still and wish hard for the Velvet Room to appear.

And it doesn't.

Okay, where am I? This way should take me close to Mitsuru's sooner or later. Hearing Kenji's voice reminds me that I really can't afford to be recognized by any of my non-SEES friends, so I set off at a light jog, not making eye contact with the people I pass. I come out of this residential district onto several blocks of shops, and the sidewalks become more crowded. I hope Junpei and Yukari realize that I'm heading back and not trying to run out on them... really should've begged a cell phone off of someone.

I see Mitsuru's face in the corner of my eye, and Thanatos twists in my thoughts.

I stumble in surprise, nearly crashing into an old lady with a stroller, pushing myself against a shop wall to miss her. Breathe hard to a moment, trying to collect my thoughts. What did I see?

I turn around, facing a splash of color – _Coming to Port Island!_ – it's just a poster for a pop concert. Then why did I think I saw –

And then my eye's drawn just to the right, to the window front of a costume shop. Several mannequins wearing period samurai and nobility costumes are posed in the window, and there's a rack of masks along one wall – a kitsune, a dragon, a raccoon-dog, some cartoon characters, some generic white masks with glittery swirls across them. And then, way over to the side, a mask molded into the shape of Mitsuru's face, eyes closed and smiling.

Yukari's is beneath it, eyes also closed.

And Junpei. Koromaru, Fuuka, Aigis, Akihiko. Shinjiro.

Thanatos is uneasy too – in fact, he feels weirded out. Can't say I blame him.


	20. Chapter 20

** 20**

Thanatos, is the ker here? Is it in the shop?

Thanatos is silent, unsettled. I don't think he can sense the ker itself. He hasn't always been able to though, which argues it could be close by.

I take a step towards the shop, then pull myself back. The keres are getting stronger, and I don't even know for sure where this one is. I shouldn't go in alone. Be smart, Minako.

Back to Mitsuru's apartment then. At a run.

* * *

"You're right, senpai." And Ken gave a small sigh as he scratched Koromaru between the ears. "I shouldn't brood, I know."

Fuuka looked up from her laptop and a website screaming _TERRORISTS ON PORT ISLAND_ in bright red font to study him closely. She wished she knew what to say to keep him from blaming himself for what – almost – happened at Gekkoukan. If it was anyone's fault, it was hers. Juno was SEES' eyes, and Fuuka should have been able to see past Apate's ruse and realize they weren't fighting the ker herself. Minako's near-destruction lay on Fuuka's conscience, not Ken's.

_I wonder what would've happened._ Her fingers rested uneasily on the keyboard_. If she'd been hurt badly enough, would the Seal have broken? Would she have been forced back onto the Seal?_ Fuuka shivered. Neither alternative sat well.

She looked over again. Ken still gazed down, watching his fingers move to scratch Koromaru's shoulders. Minako had usually been able to lift Ken's spirits, and he was closest to Akihiko and Shinjiro. Fuuka couldn't think she'd ever been good at cheering people up, but she searched herself nonetheless. "Ken-kun," she eventually said, voice pitched low, "Minako-chan will need your help as soon as she gets back."

He looked over, back straightening. He gave a small smile, one that didn't reach his eyes, but Fuuka was heartened that he made the effort. Her smile at least was genuine.

The door clicked open, and the three of them looked up to see Akihiko and Mitsuru walk in, the former's cheeks pink with cold. He didn't glance at the others, heading straight for the kitchen. Mitsuru made for her room at the back of the suite, her strides long and smooth – then minced to a stop halfway to the hall. She didn't turn to them at first, bringing one hand to her mouth, forehead furrowed. Then she glanced over, too quickly for Fuuka to meet her eyes.

Fuuka put her hand on the lid of her laptop, ready to shut it. "Is something wrong, senpai?"

Mitsuru opened her mouth, closed it, pressed the back of her fingers to her lower lip. Then turned quickly. "Yamagishi – "

"Yes?"

"Have you – have you ever – "

Fuuka watched as Mitsuru didn't complete her sentence, blinking and not meeting either her or Ken's eyes. "...Senpai?"

Mitsuru dropped her hand to her collarbone. "I just wondered if – when you're not in class or studying, what do you... do?"

"Um... well, I'm still involved with photography, you know." Fuuka gazed confusedly at her computer screen; it was simpler than gazing confusedly at her senpai. "Natsuki-chan likes to go shopping. And I still cook. I try to master a new dish every week, but I don't always have time. And sometimes they come out sort of... well, sometimes I need two weeks to work through a recipe. Oh, and I read a lot." Cautiously, she looked over at Mitsuru. "Would you like me to recommend a book?"

Mitsuru shifted her weight to her other hip. "No, but do you – that is, have you ever – I'm sure you must have..." She trailed off, contemplating the distance, looking utterly lost.

"Senpai?"

At that moment, Mitsuru Kirijo came very close to whining. "_Where_ is Yukari?"

"She's out with Junpei-kun and Minako-chan. I thought you knew that."

Mitsuru sighed, about-faced, and stalked back to her bedroom.

In a moment, Akihiko stalked out of the kitchen, glass of milk in hand. He planted himself in one of the easy chairs, turning the TV on with a click of the remote. It was a sitcom. He clicked to the news, then put the remote down and didn't watch, frowning into his milk and drumming his fingers on his armrest.

"Akihiko-san?" Ken asked. "Is something wrong?"

Akihiko's gaze jumped over, as if he'd just realized they were there. He grimaced, raised his glass to take a sip, didn't, lowered the glass, and frowned at his knees. Then looked up. "Ken, have you ever – "

Ken waited, fingers gathered in Koromaru's fur. "Ever what?"

"Never mind," Akihiko muttered, tipping his glass back and downing half of it.

Fuuka and Ken looked at each other. Ken raised his eyebrows.

* * *

Shinjiro was enjoying his walk. Yesterday's clouds had all dispersed, leaving a blue sky that could have rivaled the snow in brightness, if the snow'd had a chance to remain unblemished. Shinjiro kicked aside some slush as he strolled, keeping close to the edge of the street, letting other pedestrians pass on the inside. He turned his steps near Gekkoukan, just to get an idea what was going on there, but he got nowhere close to the school. There was a wall of police cars and fences of police tape, and he avoided the various news crews. He turned into one of the residential districts, wondering idly how Aki and Kirijo were doing, then speculating if he really was going to be suckered into cooking dinner for eight people. Tch. They could fend for themselves. Though... he might as well swing by the grocery...

About then, he looked up. The sidewalk was mainly empty, but there was a blue figure running headlong towards him. He recognized it instantly.

There was about enough time to take two steps forward, and then Mina plunged into him, throwing her palms to his chest to stop her momentum. Her hair was tumbled, and there was no sign of Iori or Takeba.

"What happened?"

He caught her elbows because she looked like she might fall over, breathing hard. "I – think I – found the next ker."

He looked beyond her down the sidewalk. Had it been chasing her? "Where?"

"In a costume shop four blocks east of the old dorm." While Shinjiro took this in, Mina straightened her legs, taking her weight off him. "Thanatos couldn't tell if it was there or not, only that – that the area's familiar with it." She frowned at her own word choice. "I thought I should get everyone together. And I didn't pace myself." She whooshed out a breath. "Akihiko-senpai's going to nuke me."

Shinjiro hadn't released her – had, in fact, drawn her closer without realizing it until now. Abruptly, he took her left hand and started leading them back the way he'd come, towards the apartment complex. "What did you see?"

With a little effort, Mina matched his stride, her breathing rhythmic. "Masks. There were these masks on sale in a window, and they looked just like us, except our eyes were closed. Or – " She frowned. "Actually, there wasn't one of me. Or Ken, now that I think of it."

"Masks?" Shinjiro repeated. "Like before, with Momos?"

Mina's eyes widened. She hadn't seen that ker, the little man at the typewriter who had worn each of their faces before transforming into a seven-headed serpent. She'd only heard about him secondhand from Iori. "But Igor told me that one was dead. So it can't be the same. Gimme your phone." He passed it over. There were hardly any numbers in it, and she found Kirijo's quickly. Shinjiro didn't let go of her hand, her gloved fingers tense in his.

"Senpai – yes, hi. Where is everyone? We – yeah, he's here – No, no, see, we ran into someone who knew me, so I had to bail, so you need to call them and get them back to headquarters. I think I found the next ker." Shinjiro listened as she repeated what she'd seen to Kirijo, then was silent for a couple seconds. "No, Igor was sure Momos was dead. Maybe so. Right. Awesome." She passed the phone back and tugged on his hand. "C'mon, we can run."

He lengthened his strides, which made Mina break into a jog. She didn't let go of his hand, though it would've been easier to run that way. As they rounded the next block, she squeezed his fingers. Her cheeks were pink from cold and running, and he recognized her expression from Tartarus, eyes ahead, mouth curved. She was looking forward to this fight.

She caught his skeptical look. "It's our first fight together in so long. All of SEES. Might as well be in a good mood for it, right?"

"Didn't Igor tell you these keres are the worst of the group?"

He frowned and her smile widened with delight, then she faced forward again, slightly more businesslike. "You wanna sit this one out, senpai?"

"Shit." And he jerked his arm, as if about to pull free from her. She clamped down harder, and he let her.

"How's Ken doing?"

That came as surprise. He looked over.

"He seems really down. Is it just last night, or...? "

"There ain't no 'just' about last night," Shinjiro muttered, more angry than he expected.

"Yeah, I know." She squeezed his fingers again, apologetic. "But I don't want him to think too much about it. He's going to be my biggest help. So... how's he doing, when the fate of the world isn't hanging over his head?"

Shinjiro paused before answering, wondering if he should be taken aback that Mina assumed he and Ken were close. Then he decided to drop it. "He'll be fine. He knows we're with him."

* * *

The SEES van rumbled through the streets of Port Island, its windows tinted, light gleaming off its black, unmarked sides, making passersby wonder if it belonged to some exclusive tour group. Yukari swung it neatly into a parking space a block away from the costume shop, behind a dry cleaner's. There'd been some arguing – park at a distance or park right in front? – but eventually they decided they'd do everything they could to take the ker by surprise.

"I still don't know about this," Yukari said under her breath, handing the car keys to Mitsuru. "I feel better when we attack at night."

"It'll be a surprise," Akihiko said, loosening the muscles in his left fist.

"Thanatos would – eat me, if I just let the ker sit around half a day," Minako said as they hit the sidewalk. They didn't spread out, which caused more than a few other pedestrians to creatively get out of their way – and raise their eyebrows, once they noticed the weaponry, the foil on Mitsuru's hip, the axe in Shinjiro's right hand, Junpei's katana, Yukari's bow, and the spear across Ken's back. Minako took point, Ken just behind her. She'd glanced once at Mitsuru, as if asking permission to take the lead, and Mitsuru had very archly not acknowledged it.

Despite the element of surprise, they dragged to a halt when they came to the costume shop, blocking the sidewalk traffic as they stared at the rows of masks.

Junpei glared. "If this one's anything like Momos, I say let's kill it fast."

"What do you see, Fuuka?" Akihiko asked, while Aigis asked, "Are there any noncombatants within?"

Fuuka had neither an elygic reader nor did she evoke, but she closed her eyes. "I think it's there," she said presently.

"I don't see anyone inside." Junpei even stood on tiptoe to search past the mannequins. "Is it open?"

Akihiko was closest, and he tried to the door. It yielded, a row of bells tinkling. There was no movement from inside. He looked over at Minako.

She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling her bangs out of her eyes. "You know how this goes. We go in, then nothing happens at first. Then the ker jumps on us and doesn't even introduce itself." She looked sidelong through the window. "It's pretty big in there, except for all those clothes racks... Ken-kun." She looked over. "The two of us should spread out. We don't know where we'll be attacked from. Senpai, Yukari, can you two run support until we see how things are going?" Mitsuru and Yukari nodded. "They rest of us, we'll just go haywire." And she slipped past Akihiko to be the first one inside. The rest followed, and Yukari shut the door behind them.

It was badly lit within, several of the long overhead lights buzzing and flickering. Racks of costumes and faceless mannequins stood all around them, quiet. The counter was little more than a shadow at the far end of the room.

Koromaru scented the air, then whined.

"That's sick," Junpei said after a moment, gesturing to his left. At a mannequin dressed in a sultry silver dress, bared shoulders and slit up the thigh. Also streaked down the front with blood. Koromaru put his ears back.

"They're all like that," Yukari said, taking a step towards a child's lion costume, fluffy with a sunflower-y mane, covered in bloody handprints.

"Koromaru-san says that it is fresh," Aigis said. "And it is not blood."

"No, it's – " And as Junpei took a step closer to the evening gown, he suddenly stepped back. "Shit, it's black."

"Something's already hurt the ker?" Shinjiro asked, looking around the shop.

"What could do _that_?" Akihiko lifted the edge of a kimono, its obi heavy with darkness. "The Shadow's got to be bleeding out all over the place."

Minako was looking away, as if listening for something. Suddenly, she caught Fuuka's eye, and they both looked towards the counter. They'd thought that corner was dark, but as they looked more closely, they saw that the bare floorboards weren't shadowed: a black pool had spread from behind the counter, reflecting no light.

Athena flashed above them, dove – but only struck the counter, shoving it away at an angle, letting it thud against the wall and reveal the black pool in its entirety. There was a capsized chair. A slight, light-clothed figure lay in the pool's center, face-down, one black-flecked arm stretched across the floor.

Juno materialized around Fuuka. "That's the ker," she said with hardly any hesitation. "It – she isn't dead."

"What's her name?" Yukari asked.

"Oizys," Fuuka answered readily. "She's powerful. And she's... she feels like Momos. The same sort of energy and pain."

They approached the form cautiously. She looked middle-aged, her blue-black hair long and unbound. Light glinted beneath her outstretched hand: a razor. Her arm wasn't simply splattered with blood, it was crisscrossed by a haphazard lattice of gashes.

"It feels wrong to just attack her," Minako said.

"Get over it," said Shinjiro.

She shook her head. "No. I mean, she's just lying there, and the minute we all rush in, something bad is going to happen."

"We can't just stand here," Akihiko said.

Despite Minako's orders to stay apart, Ken had moved to the front of the group. He gazed at her sidelong. "Maybe one of us should test it?"

Minako looked sharply over. It was obvious he meant either her or himself, and it was just as obvious that Minako was going to volunteer herself. Then something checked her – Ken didn't look away, and his stance didn't soften.

Minako frowned, then reluctantly lifted the corners of her mouth and gestured towards the ker. "Okay. Let's see what happens."

"Hold it," Junpei said as Ken took a step forward. They looked back as Junpei walked over to the shop window, fiddled with something on the wall, and then a sheet of Venetian blinds clattered down. "Doesn't hurt to have someone on top of these things," he said, hardly even trying to make it a joke.

They turned back to Ken. He regarded the ker, then drew his Evoker, trigger clicking.

Kala-Nemi whirled out of him, a mirror image to the sudden whirlwind of darkness over the ker. Her body twisted, flailed, elongated. Kala-Nemi struck, was followed by Trismegisthus and Thanatos before the ker's new form had even solidified. Once the Personas dispersed, SEES moved back, everyone knocking aside mannequins and racks, trying to give themselves room.

The ker had spread, fanned out to either side, two oily, blue-black hands pressed wrist to wrist, seven fingers in all. Each of their masks, eyes closed, had been impaled on a finger pad with a heavy stake. The inner wrists were split open, oozing ichor, and Ken and Minako's faces shown from their depths.

Athena and Vercingetorix launched forward, power crashing across the ker. The fingers clenched, but nothing else happened.

"That ain't gonna work," said Shinjiro.

"What're you getting, Fuuka?" Junpei called back.

"Try elementals," Fuuka called from between two pharaoh mannequins.

Akihiko gave ground while Mitsuru evoked, ice blazing across the dark shop, taking out a row of cheap tuxedoes before hitting the ker. Which writhed, fingers splayed, before releasing a wave of energy, unraveling the edges of their vision, squeezing their lungs and throwing them all backwards, into the arms of waiting mannequins.

Yukari and Junpei sorted themselves out of a two-man horse costume, the former casting Mediarahan. "That got a response," Junpei puffed.

Akihiko punched a suit of armor aside. "Let's go!"

Ken had already cast Ziodyne, followed by Koromaru's Agidyne. The ker objected to both, and all of SEES came crashing backwards again.

"This really hurts, " Minako mentioned from under a capsized Watermelon Man costume. Yukari cast Mediarahan again, and everyone kicked haberdashery out of their paths. The ker loomed on the far wall, darkness dribbling from its wrists.

"Hey!" Yukari shouted, but Akihiko had cast Ziodyne, and Yukari couldn't say anything else until she'd pulled the trash can off her head and thrown it to the side. "The masks – their eyes are open."

_The more you face the world around you, the more blind you become._

"Dammit, not this again," Junpei said under his breath.

Ken twisted his hands on his spear.

"What are you?" Minako shouted (this time she'd crashed back against the front window, almost hitting Fuuka).

Light glimmered across Oizys' palms._ I am darkness. I am truth. _

Ken blinked hard, his breath coming irregularly. He swallowed, balancing himself.

_I am what you must face when you look inward. When you break from every useless attachment in this world._

Mitsuru shook her hair out of her eyes. "Do you mean to say you're Transcendence?"

Ken stared at his mask, driven deep into the ker's wrist, black blood sliding over his features. He shook himself, reaching one hand up to touch his own face, then stared at his fingers as if expecting to see something.

_ I let you break from the world and face the only thing that matters – yourself. _

Minako balanced her naginata, eyes narrowed distrustfully.

_I break being. So many times, you have let me. _

Ken made a fist, and the uncertainty in his eyes hardened to a glare.

And with no further warning, energy slammed out from Oizys, pinning them all back against the walls, the crackling blinds.

"Dammit – " Junpei had grabbed the edge of a cabinet, was trying to pull himself forward. " – C'mon – you can – "

_You must hold this certainty to your heart. _

Mitsuru lunged forward – and her spine nearly twisted back upon itself as Oizys' force overwhelmed her, sending her crashing into the counter.

_ You are the only one who really knows anything._

"No – way!" Ken gasped.

"Just – saying things – isn't – helping! "Yukari struggled for breath.

"No – _No way_!" Ken ducked his head, tried to push off the wall, but was pressed back. "I – don't – matter!"

_You killed my twin, Momos._

"Ken?" Shinjiro almost pushed free, caught behind a crate of latex masks, but he was slammed back.

_My name is Misery. _

Ken was through with this shit. "Other – things – matter – more!" And with a wrench, he pushed himself forward, stumbling, digging his spear into the floor to brace himself.

_You will not rescue yourselves from me._

Ken stumbled forward, towards the ker._  
_

"No problem. Let's get nice and close." Akihiko puffed, trying to pull himself forward along the counter, fingers slipping as he was thrown back into Mitsuru.

"The masks' eyes – they're bleeding!" came Fuuka's voice from behind. Darkness had welled over each mask's eye, dribbling down their cheeks.

Aigis pushed forward, raising her gun arm and sighting. She didn't have the strength yet to approach Oizys, but she had the strength to fire. The Aigis mask shattered, and Aigis staggered forward, her movements suddenly unrestrained.

"Shoot us!" Minako shouted, and luckily Aigis understood. She lowered her gun, and Oizys' left wrist exploded, Minako's mask destroyed. Minako leapt forward into a run, evoking. Another blast of gunfire and Ken followed her, teeth bared with anger. Ichor spread across the floor, blazing with color as Thanatos and Kala-Nemi manifested, fire and lightning.

Minako and Ken were both thrown back by the force of their attack, tumbling across the floor, Ken flailing an arm out to catch Minako's wrist. Oizys was a tangle of darkness and fire, rolling in and over itself.

_You will resurrect my twin. You will come back to me._

With a hissing, sucking gasp, Oizys shuddered and vanished. The masks were the last to go, their shattered edges reassembling, all with their eyes firmly shut.

Minako glanced over, inched away from the spreading pool of ichor, and hugged Ken. "You fought her – You were moving – Seriously – how – how did you do that?"

Ken closed his eyes and half smiled, then hugged her back.

There was a clatter of crates and dummies, wire clothes hangers chittering across the floorboards, as everyone got up, checking for bruises, the senpai coming forward to pick Ken up, Aigis hoisting Minako up by under the shoulders.

"Are you bleeding?" she asked. "Your back?"

Minako felt her shoulder. "No, I'm – " In the jumble of people walking across the floor and shoving things out of the way, they all heard the sound of fists banging on the window and door. Someone was shouting for the police.

"Back door," Junpei said, pointing as they fell over themselves in a mad rush for it.

Once they were out of the shop, down several alleys, into the SEES van and trying to drive as unremarkably as possible back towards Mitsuru's building, Yukari let out a pent-up breath. "I almost wish being able to work during the Dark Hour." One of the fastest runners, she'd dove into the van first, then been pushed by subsequent arrivals into a back corner, pressed up against Koromaru and, in a moment, Junpei. Minako was in the next row, also against a wall, wedged in with Ken, Aigis and Fuuka, leaving Mitsuru up front with Akihiko, Shinjiro on a seat by himself, and an entirely empty seat. Yukari and Minako started kicking and batting people away, and eventually everyone spread out, and their heart-rates slowed.

"Kurosawa's going to recognize our handiwork," Akihiko said at the wheel.

"When are things going to become too much for him?" Fuuka asked. "He can't cover _everything_ we do. What if we have to... to blow something up next?"

"I rely only on the best," Mitsuru said grimly.

"It'll be a miracle if he ever lets me work on the island," Akihiko muttered, coming to a smooth stop to let an old woman cross an intersection.

"What was Momos again?" Shinjiro asked abruptly. "His other name."

Mitsuru remembered first. "Blame. Misery's twin." She left it unsaid, that Misery had said they'd all meet again.

"They can't come back," Minako said, uneasily breaking the silence. "Igor wouldn't overlook something like that."

"But would he tell you?" Junpei asked, lifting his eyebrows, his tone saying he didn't trust Igor all that much.

Minako frowned. "He..." She trailed off, seemed to be listening to something again. "Damn."

"What?" Yukari asked.

"Thanatos has a better memory than I do," Minako answered. "Igor did tell me. He said that Ker, the leader of the keres, encompasses them all."

Fuuka's eyes rounded. "So does that mean she's nine times as strong as the rest?"

"Should be fun," said Akihiko.

"So I guess she'd encompass both of the twins," Minako went on, still musing. "And Harris..."

"And Thanatos and Kala-Nemi?" Ken asked quickly.

There was a surge of alarm all through the van. "Shit," Shinjiro said as Akihiko almost didn't turn a corner. Junpei had reflexively stood, looming over Minako's headrest.

"But – nah. No way. Those two might be keres, but they belong to you."

"Yeah," Yukari said, though so uncertainly it sounded more like a question.

Minako and Ken looked at each other, neither smiling.

"I – I think I can control my Persona," Ken said, glancing almost ashamedly at Shinjiro, who was looking out the window.

Minako took a deep breath, then evened her shoulders. "It's okay. I'm not worried."


	21. Chapter 21

**21**

I'm kinda surprised how early we all turn in. Oizys was a toughie, and it's hard not to think about what she said, that we'd meet again. Or that Ker might somehow control Kala-Nemi and Thanatos.

No. I don't see why it should happen. It isn't like what happened to Shinjiro and Castor – Castor wasn't being manipulated, he simply broke free. Ken's experienced with his Persona, there shouldn't be a problem there. As for me, I lost control of Thanatos the very first time I evoked, but that was because he's Death. He's not just my Persona. He can override me. So I suppose if he sided with Ker, he could break free from me.

How about it, Thanatos? Are you going to be good?

He's totally at ease, almost curled up in my mind, and he hardly responds to my mental poke, but I feel the flutter of his bemusement. I take it we're still cool.

Maybe I should get some sleep too.

After dinner – which we collectively strong-armed Shinjiro into cooking, which he pretty much emptied Mitsuru's fridge to do – we didn't talk much, mostly yawning and watching the news. (Apparently, that costume shop wasn't even supposed to be open this month, as the owners are vacationing in America. Several eyewitnesses on the street claimed the shop was attacked by a group of angry, weapon-wielding cosplayers.) Fuuka scanned, found nothing, and we were all still yawning and blinking sleepily at each other. Everyone's decided to stay the night here; Mitsuru doesn't want us to spread out, and I can't say I blame her. There's one ker to go, and after that the final one, Ker herself. We're coming to the end.

It's that thought that keeps me from snuggling down in this very comfortable sleeping bag and dropping off. All us girls are in Mitsuru's room, scattered across the floor, Aigis sitting in the corner in shut-down. The moon's swelling towards full, letting its light in through the wide windows that lead out to the bedroom's balcony, and I can see my friends' features clearly. Mitsuru keeps turning over, coverlets rustling, and, nearest to me, Yukari looks troubled even in her sleep. I reach over, pull Fuuka's blanket more securely over her shoulder, then lie down, close my eyes, breathing slowly, trying to slow my thoughts as well.

Totally doesn't work.

Stifling a groan, I drag myself out of the sleeping bag and to my feet, stretching, stepping into my boots. It's like I knew I wouldn't get much sleep: I haven't even changed out of my Igor clothes. Why not get some fresh air? Maybe this is the last time I'll see Port Island by night.

The tall glass doors aren't locked, and I slip through them, closing them before the cold breeze can flow inside to my friends. Fingers curling on the railing, I tip myself forward, leaning out, lifting my chin and letting the wind cool my throat and chest. Port Island glitters, lights burning even in the dead of night. Beyond the buildings, I can just make out the dark indistinctness of the sea.

None of this will be here when I come back.

I shake myself. I don't even know I'll ever be back to earth. Just that I'll be on the Seal until the end of time and – who knows what happens then? Do I get to go home for one more look? There'll be nothing left on this planet. There won't even be a planet. The world will end, there will be no more need for the Seal, and I can't quite grasp what comes next.

This last look at my world, still intact – Port Island, and SEES, and home – it's a terrible gift.

"Minako-san?"

It's Aigis, softly closing the window behind her. She steps up to the railing alongside me, her fingers resting delicately, throat ribbon rippling in the breeze.

"What's wrong?"

She frowns across the night, probably the same as I was until she came out. "Why did you not tell me you were dying?"

"Huh?"

"After fighting Nyx. All February, you never told me you were languishing."

I cross my arms. "I didn't always know. I didn't remember."

"But you did, sometimes. I would look into your eyes, and I knew when you recognized me and when you didn't. I always knew."

I sigh, but it doesn't pull the weight off my chest. "We never spoke that month, even when I did remember."

Her fingers have tightened on the railing. "But you knew you were dying, didn't you?" I don't want to, but I nod. Her voice breaks, though she stares resolutely ahead. "You should have told me!"

In the apartment building across the way, two adjacent windows suddenly go dark. I sigh again. "What good would it have done? You would have just spent a month trying to save someone who was already dead."

Tears roll down Aigis' synthetic cheeks. "You were wrong. It was – it was selfish of you."

Cautiously, I reach over and prod her right hand with my fingertips. After a moment, she loosens her grip enough for me to slide my fingers under hers, and with my hand there, she has no choice but to keep her hand relaxed. And, just like for a human, easing the tension in her hand eases the tension all through her. When I dare another look at her face, the tears have stopped, though her eyes are closed, eyebrows pushed forward. Her fingers are icy. I'm not sure my skin can warm them.

"Well," I say, and I can't say it evenly, "I'm going to leave again."

"I know."

_And now you can see that me telling you doesn't make things any easier_, I almost want to snarl. The anger's sudden, and I catch my breath. I'm just whining. I got this gift of seeing my world again, and now all I want is to prolong it.

No – it wasn't exactly wrapped as a gift. Killing the keres is my obligation.

"I used to dream about you," Aigis says, turning slightly towards me. "After you died."

"I didn't know you could dream."

She half-smiles, not exactly pleased. "I was alone in the darkness. And I could just make you out. Your back was to me, and you started walking away. And no matter how much I shouted, you never even paused, and no matter how fast I ran, I could never catch you."

"It was just a dream. I wouldn't do that."

"But you did. And you always will."

I look away. I don't need to meet her eyes to know what she means. I left them all without saying goodbye.

I swallow. "Did the dream ever stop?"

"No. I wanted to forget you." Her voice is soft enough that I wouldn't be able to hear her a few steps away. "I... was going to return to Yakushima and have my memory erased. And then I would be shut down indefinitely."

"Aigis, you – "

She shook her head. "Our pain broke the Abyss of Time open. And when we saw a Shadow that looked like you, that always ran from us... When my dream became reality... I knew I couldn't shut down until I understood why you died."

I force myself to breathe slowly, to keep from trembling. "You shouldn't have – Don't die, Aigis. Please." I feel her looking at me, and I need to pull myself together. Me crying will only hurt her. "Okay? No matter what happens, promise me?"

"Minako-san." She straightens and pulls her hand from mine, facing me. "Is there any way I can help you? Can I join you on the Seal?"

"No," I say quickly, the anger flaring back. "There isn't. And even if there was, I wouldn't let you."

She isn't crying anymore. Her face is set and serious. "Would you let Shinjiro-san?"

"_No_. Don't even consider it."

Aigis takes a step forward, almost like she wants to fight me, but then she pitches back and looks away. "I will not bring it up again."

Damn this. I touch her hand. "Get some rest. We can talk more in the morning." Though I hope we won't, not about this. "Okay?"

"You must rest as well."

"I will. Don't worry. I'm just going to stay here a bit longer. _Out_ here, that is. Outside," I add clumsily.

She curls her fingers around mine, then releases my hand and walks back in. Letting out a long hiss of breath, I turn back to the railing, grip it hard, staring down. Why did I think I was strong enough to do this?

The streets below are dark, sporadically lit by streetlamps and the occasional passing car. The balcony's not so high up, and I can make out people walking down the streets, most of them in a hurry. One figure lingers on the sidewalk, slowly pacing as if in thought. It takes me a moment, but I recognize it, even in the darkness.

My fingers twist on the railing. Maybe the time's long past for snap decisions, but I make this one, darting away from the railing, running through Mitsuru's apartment, past the guys sleeping in the sitting room and out the door, down the dim hallways.

* * *

Mitsuru rolled over, searching for coolness on her bed. She'd kicked off all of her blankets except for the top sheet. Even though it was January, tonight her apartment felt too close, too humid. Sighing with frustration, she opened her eyes and found her clock. She'd last woken less than an hour before. Her mind wouldn't settle long enough for her to deeply sleep.

She rubbed the heels of her hands over her eyes. Don't think about the keres, don't think about the Kirijo Group, don't think about everything that could go wrong tomorrow. She dropped her hands and stared at her canopy. Her mind wouldn't empty. She heard movement, and, looking over, she saw Yukari sit up from her sleeping bag. Mitsuru kept silent as Yukari trudged to the bathroom, the faucet ran, and she trudged back out, dabbing the corner of her mouth. Then she noticed Mitsuru, and her eyebrows pricked.

"You okay?" Yukari whispered. Mitsuru sighed. Yukari glanced around. Aigis sat in the corner, head lowered, eyes shut. Fuuka had burrowed to the bottom of her sleeping bag. The other sleeping bag was empty. "Where's Minako?"

"Do you think she tried to escape?" Mitsuru whispered, almost welcoming the idea. A chase would be invigorating after such a night.

"No," Yukari said after a second's thought. "I don't think she'd do something that lowdown." She took a few steps towards Mitsuru's bed. "What's wrong? You look awful." Mitsuru glanced at Fuuka. "Don't worry, she's a heavy sleeper," Yukari said.

"It's nothing," Mitsuru said as Yukari sat cross-legged at the foot of her bed. "That is – it's – everything's coming on so quickly, and I..." She gazed off into space, and something in her face changed as a new thought came to her, a note of self-consciousness through the weariness."Yukari... have you ever – ?"

Mitsuru didn't finish. "Have I ever what?" Yukari asked.

"That – that Murakami boy you were dating last year." Mitsuru didn't meet her eyes. "I know you broke up, but did you – did you ever – ?"

"What are you asking, senpai?" Yukari asked quickly, cheeks pink.

Mitsuru hardly noticed. "Did you ever – love – him?"

"I'm still not sure what you're asking."

Mitsuru finally looked at her, though unwillingly. "Did you love him? Did – did he make you feel like everything had changed?"

"Oh," Yukari said softly. "Well... we weren't together all that long. But yeah, I liked him at the start." She leaned forward. "Mitsuru?"

"It's nothing," Mitsuru said, and her cheeks were much too hot. She sat up, as if that would let the blood drain from her face. "It's nothing at all. Go to bed, Yukari."

Yukari's eyes had widened. "Mitsuru?"

"Go to _bed_," Mitsuru said, glancing frantically at Fuuka's sleeping form.

Yukari still looked amazed, but her mouth slowly curved in a smile, and then she laughed. Mitsuru wished she'd let them all sleep at a hotel.

"Senpai, you don't have to be so shy about it. Don't worry, it's perfectly normal." Though even Yukari would have to admit there was something uncertain about her chiding. "Um, so... who is it?"

Mitsuru dragged her bangs out of her face. "It isn't normal. It's – we've never been like this, and I – "

The surprise was back in Yukari's face. "Wait a minute, you – you're in love with – "

Mitsuru looked at her bedside table, where her cell phone was charging. "I should probably call the labs and see if they've found any – "

"But you told me you couldn't ever love him because he's too much like you."

Mitsuru paused in the act of bringing her phone to her ear, profile tense. "You're right. And I can't." She stared at her phone, let that hand fall to her lap, her voice subdued. "I told you that?"

"Yeah, awhile ago."

Mitsuru crossed her arms. She might've said that, certainly, with the complacency of someone utterly uninterested in the idea.

"Honestly," Yukari said, picking so casually at one of the blankets, "I think Akihiko-senpai's one of the few people who can really keep up with you."

"What do you mean by that?"

Yukari shrugged, then grimaced. "Don't let it bother you too much, senpai. It'll pass, or it won't and you'll figure out how to deal with it."

"Don't let it bother me?" Mitsuru repeated incredulously.

"And get some sleep." Yukari stood and glanced uneasily around. "I know it's tough, but we gotta be prepared." She managed a smile. "That's what you're always telling us: be prepared."

Mitsuru waited for something else. In many ways, Yukari knew much more about the world than she did, and Mitsuru'd been hoping for some ideal insight, some trick that would put her uncertainty to rest. Or give her some clue how to proceed. In a moment, Mitsuru realized how foolish she must look, and she leaned down on her elbows. "Yes. Of course. Good night, Yukari."

"We'll talk about it more later," Yukari said lightly, sliding into her sleeping bag.

* * *

Shinjiro preferred being awake at night. Nights were quieter, uncrowded. He couldn't say he liked _it_ exactly, skulking through the late hours or even the vague threat of danger, but he liked the solitude. So now, even though he wasn't going in to work, after the clutter of the day with the reunion and the battle and the bustle of dinner, he grabbed a spare key and slipped out of Kirijo's apartment. The quick excuse was that he wanted to get away from the others.

Outside, it was like walking through a chilly mesh, the breeze always brushing his face. He walked quietly, ignoring any other pedestrians, deep in his thoughts.

Coldness trailed down the back of his neck. He turned his head, scanning for any hint of danger.

Mina was walking towards him, and not with the bouncy step he was accustomed to, her gaze tilted down, her eyes dark. He saw exactly when she realized he recognized her – and abruptly her mouth spread in a sweet smile. Back at the dorm, when he was younger, he hadn't always trusted the authenticity of that smile, and now he got no satisfaction from seeing his doubts confirmed.

"You should be asleep," she called out.

"What about you?"

"Don't argue with the Great Seal." Her smile hitched on the last words, but she brought it under control again, looking genuine.

"What's wrong?"

"What are you thinking?"

She hadn't interrupted him, just ignored his question, stopping by his shoulder. When he didn't answer, she flicked her gaze up at him. She'd forgotten to smile.

"Do I ever tell you what I'm thinking?"

She grinned – unconsciously and unplanned, which was worth what she said next. "Sometimes you do." She deepened her voice. "_Piss off, Mina. Eat your vegetables, Mina. I ain't cooking for all your friends, Mina. I can't get you out of my head, Mina –_ "

"Piss off." He stalked away, expecting her to follow, grab his arm most likely, and when he felt nothing but the cold breeze, he stopped and turned around. She hadn't moved, standing there in her bare legs and too-thin jacket, the grin slipped and her eyes sad.

"Shinji – why didn't you tell me you were dying?"

"What?"

"During September."

He was glad she was at some distance now. "It wasn't your business."

She opened her mouth, took a step forward – then caught herself and nodded. "...Yeah. But you could've changed that. Why did you stay with me and not say anything?"

"That was your idea, not mine – "

"Bullshit, Shinji."

True enough. Shinjiro discarded the pretense. "Look, even if I'd told you, nothing you said could've changed anything. You couldn't stop the drugs, and you couldn't have stood between me and Ken." She looked like she was going to try to argue that, and he shook his head. "No." She pressed her lips together. "So..." He drew a deep breath. "Why not let you think you were happy?"

She wasn't looking at him, staring hard at the pavement between them. Her shoulders were tense. She looked up sharply. "I'm going to die again. I'm going back to the Seal. You are never going to see me again."

Shinjiro swallowed.

"So what do you want to do?" Mina's voice was rising, edged with anger. "Run off to Shirakawa? Just ignore what's going to happen? Or should I just – just take the high road and leave all of you and act like I don't care because that's the_ better_ thing to do, then – then I wouldn't be so selfish – "

She was staring at him, and he knew she was expecting him to do something – walk over and comfort her, stay back and argue with her – and he was at a loss for which he wanted to do.

When he didn't do anything, she drooped and fell to her knees on the pavement, exhaling and clutching her hair. "I'm sorry," she said irately, "I just – I'm not dealing with this – "

By then, he'd walked back over to her, stopping with his knee at her shoulder, looming over her.

She'd slumped forward, face down. "I don't blame you," she said eventually, "for not telling me."

"Shit. Mina." He reached down to touch her hair.

"I'd like to think you didn't know I'm going to leave again. None of you knew. Like you all could just have a happy dream."

Just now, it did feel like a dream – a dream of her ever having died in the first place. Shinjiro stared down at her, warm, breathing, maybe crying, and forced himself to believe that she'd once died in his arms. She'd gone cold. She'd been slotted away in a morgue, handled by a mortician and pressed into a coffin. Then shoved in an incinerator and burned away. But that couldn't have happened, because here she was now.

He mentally shrugged those thoughts off. There was no dream. His chest ached.

"I know you're gonna leave." He reached down and grasped her shoulders, hoisting her up, not letting go. "You don't have to prepare me."

She didn't look up at first, reaching one hand up to stroke his, run her fingers over his knuckles, and when she did lift her face, her eyes were wet.

"What will you do when it happens?"

Shinjiro had no answer. He couldn't lie to her, and it felt heartless to comfort her by saying things would be fine – and he was afraid to speak any of his thoughts. With a jolt, he pulled her closer to him and nearly snapped, "You're freezing." She didn't answer, forehead to his heart, and his sudden fear gradually subsided, heavy, seemed to muffle and deaden his heartbeat. He closed his eyes and bowed his head, leaning heavily against her. "Shit."

After a moment, Mina straightened; he could feel his body weight balancing as the muscles in her back and shoulders firmed up, and when he opened his eyes, she'd stopped crying. She didn't smile for him, but she searched his eyes. Shinjiro wanted to brace, wanted to be sure she'd read no fear there, but if she wouldn't assume a smile then he wouldn't assume impassivity. Her mouth relaxed slightly, and, without warning, she took his hand and started pulling him towards the apartment building. "C'mon. It's too cold to be out."

He let her lead him back in.

* * *

Akihiko tumbled out of incomplete slumber, blinking around the dark room. Where was – Then he recognized the furniture. Mitsuru's sitting room. Ken was stretched out on the sofa. Junpei had opted for the one remaining sleeping bag and had his cover pulled over his head. Last he'd seen, Shinji'd been in the opposite easy chair, but now Koromaru lay curled up on the seat, whuffling in his sleep.

Akihiko rubbed his face with one hand, shifting around, trying to work loose some tight muscles, then leaned back in his recliner, shutting his eyes. They popped back open when he heard the door click, and he lifted his head, reaching for his Evoker.

He couldn't make much out in the half light, but he recognized Shinji's slouched silhouette, and with an aggrieved sigh, he leaned back again. He expected Shinji to shuffle back to his chair, maybe head for the kitchen, but after a moment, he heard low talking. He tipped his head towards the door.

" – seriously – don't worry – fine now." That was Minako's voice, whispering. Looking harder, he could make out her shape beyond Shinji's, her hands on his arm. " – just how it is, even if – "

Akihiko quickly looked away and willed himself to sleep, heart drumming with embarrassment. Oddly, it didn't work. He didn't pick up Shinji's answer, but he heard Minako, despite her softness. " – take better care of yourself – get lots of sleep." There was silence, and Akihiko looked over just as Minako said " – still cold."

Minako had reached a hand out, touching Shinji's cheek and mouth. It was a gesture Akihiko couldn't have imagined his best friend tolerating, and when Shinji pressed the flat of her fingers to his lips, Akihiko looked away again. Evidently love had the power to make someone completely unrecognizable.

"Get outta here," came Shinji's voice, and at least that was familiar.

A soft laugh, then light footsteps across the floor, down the hallway to Mitsuru's room. Then heavier footsteps approaching and a whispered, "Move it, Koro-chan."

There was half a minute of silence. Akihiko listened to Shinji's breathing. He was still awake. When Akihiko cracked his eyes open, Shinji was seated, legs splayed, Koromaru on his lap. He'd tilted his head back so he could look out the window.

And he immediately sensed Akihiko's gaze, because his eyes darted over and he frowned. "The hell are you doing up?"

Akihiko didn't dignify that with an answer, sighing impatiently and closing his eyes. He could feel Shinji watching him a moment longer. Akihiko kept still, trying not to mentally replay what he'd seen between Shinji and Minako – which kept pushing his thoughts into speculation.

There was another half minute of silence. Junpei mumbled something in his sleep.

Akihiko swallowed, unwilling to follow the current of his thoughts. But they kept coming, and the more they came, the more at sea he felt. "Hey. Shinji?"

Shinji grunted, but it was an awake grunt.

Akihiko braced himself, thinking long and hard about how best to phrase this, and while he was doing that, the words started to come out anyway: "Have you – have you ever – ?"

Silence.

"Have I ever what?" came Shinji's voice.

Akihiko cleared his throat. "Well, you and Minako are – are very, uh, close and – "

"What the _hell_ are you getting at?"

No. No matter how far out at sea he was, this wasn't working. Akihiko exhaled. "Never mind."

"What?"

"Forget it. Go to sleep." And Akihiko rolled over.

There was a full minute of silence.

Then Shinji's voice: "This about Kirijo?"

Akihiko pretended to be asleep, and they left it at that.

* * *

It's white. This isn't good.

I already know I'm dreaming, and I already know this is the wrong kind of dream. I can't move, shoved up against on every side by – white – wet? – snow? I'm in the heart of a snowbank, nothing but glittering light and ice water trickling vein-like over my face and shoulders.

But it's not thin trickles of water and it's receding – what? – everything's pulling away from me, growing darker and dingier, and the veins of water are branches, trees, a black forest rising high and leafless around me. Craning my neck back, I can see stormclouds, dark but backlit by a smarting white sky. And I can still hear water...

I look down. I'm standing on packed dirt, on a riverbank. The water's only a meter off, thin, deep and dark, silver light jabbing across its surface. The light's bad. I can't see where the river's coming from or where it's going.

I start to walk along it but stop short when I see something pale out of the corner of my eye. It's floating down the river, circular, and for a crazy moment I think it's a paper plate or a hubcap. But there are long silky streamers around it, tawny-colored but dimmed to dull silver in the light. Is it a jellyfish?

I step closer to the water's edge and freeze; my heart feels like it's wrenched up in my body. It's Orpheus. My Persona. Me. Just her head, floating face-up, the lenses of her eyes clear and blank.

I think of it, lunging over the water and grabbing her, but I don't, too afraid of falling into the river. Even though I'm not afraid of water, I can't let it touch me. I watch her head float away into darkness.

I shiver. Twist around. The forest is gone. Rather, the trees have seeped together, coagulated, hardened over – they're stone now, striations on a rock wall. Look up. No sky. I'm in a cavern.

The water touches the toes of my boots. I jump back.

And am enveloped in coldness – the snow is all around me again, pressing on my stomach, my windpipe – everything but my face.

There's something here, something that's not going to let me wake up until it's ready. I wrench myself around, stretching my arms to either side, but I can't see myself now. I can't even feel my body. I'm nothing but a consciousness in a ball of white, pressed flat by coldness.

Red splits the white – a small gouge mark in all the snow, fresh and red. It's splitting down its center. A red mouth. It's laughing with a woman's voice.

_I can't wait for this one_, she says.

A name comes into my mind: _Ker_. And I don't know if it's me or Thanatos who thought it. I can't speak, and the snow grows colder. Ice water pours through me.

The redness smiles.

Heat blasts across my face. My eyes break open, my body twisting awake. Mitsuru's room. Wild with light and smoke. Yukari screams.


	22. Chapter 22

**22**

I twist around, somehow getting my legs under me and to my feet – and I drop into a crouch, because the ceiling's thick with smoke. Fuuka, on her hands and knees, pulls me back down.

"What's – "

She coughs and shakes her head, gesturing to where the bedroom door must be.

Thanatos roars in my ears. What – ?

Fuuka's crawled a few feet, but she looks back at me, hand over mouth. She's incredulous. Yeah, I need to move, but Thanatos –

You sense a ker, don't you? Where is it?

Something crashes behind me, near the balcony. Holy shit – did someone throw a bomb in here? Glance over my shoulder, and the balcony's a fountain of fire, oily and bright. In the split second I watch, a thread of flame breaks off from the fountain, small fires bursting along its length like flowers? _What?_

It catches the window frame, which blazes.

Okay, time to scoot.

The smoke lifts a moment as the two of us crawl across the floor – Yukari's thrown the door open, one arm holding Mitsuru up by the waist. I can hear Koromaru barking, one of the guys shouting, smashing glass. Akihiko's with Yukari, helping her lift Mitsuru, and another figure lunges down the hallway and grabs Fuuka's arm – it's Ken. Aigis grabs me from behind, propels me into the sitting room. The smoke isn't as thick here, but it's spreading. Shinjiro steps away from a smashed window, axe in hand, cold air sweeping in. In a moment, Junpei rams his katana through the other.

"What hap – "

" – need to get outta here – "

" – why is – door locked – "

_SMASH. _We're thrown to the side as the entire building judders, then _smash_ from much closer as Aigis sights over my shoulder and guns down the door. More smoke rolls in, her eyes gleaming blue through the darkness.

" – is the whole building on fire – "

" – Mitsuru's hurt – "

"– Fuuka, is it – "

" – get the hell outta here!"

Hot metal clamps on my arm. Aigis hauls me towards the door. We're too high up to jump from a window and –

I fall forward, slamming into Aigis as the apartment rocks again. Aigis doesn't wait for me to get my feet, half-carrying me down the hallway.

It's hot, impossible to see – the hallway's full of people, running feet, someone pressing against me, screams and –

Thanatos is louder than all of them, his roars crowding my thoughts. He doesn't use words, but I know what he wants.

I fight him at first – doesn't he understand we're all running for our lives? – but I know he knows and apparently that can't matter right now.

I can just ignore him, I can –

But –

"Aigis – " I cough on the second syllable, then shout her name again. "Let me go!"

The hall's impossible to get through, congested with people. Something crashes on the floor above us. Junpei's next to me, and even through the tumult I can hear him swearing a blue streak. Where's Shinjiro?

Aigis looks back at me incredulously. "We must evacuate."

"The ker's here. I have to go back and fight it."

"No – "

Something rattles the hallway, people falling against each other. I gash my chin open on Aigis' shoulder. "If you don't let go of me, I will summon Thanatos and he will _make_ you let go."

"I don't care. "

"Aigis, please!"

I tumble forward, shoved from behind. The crowd's moving again, stumbling, throwing people to the walls. My foot crashes into something soft that yelps with pain – Koromaru! "Someone pick Koro up!" Hard to see in the smoke, but I peripherally see Junpei lunge down, then come up with a bundle of white in his arms. "Aigis, this isn't going to stop until you _let go!_"

"I will go with you – "

"No – " Even if she's a robot, she can be melted, she can be lost in the rubble, her data can be corrupted. I don't care what she says about never being able to die. I can't break free from her. She's unstoppably strong. She's just what someone needs to live through this. "Help the others get out!"

"No!"

"I'm ordering you, Aigis! This is what I want! Now let go!"

"No – "

"You need to help the others get out. Please, I love you all and if you die there's nothing left."

She stares at me – I can still make her eyes out through the smoke and they're wide, angry, terrified – then her steel-hard fingers leave mine and my hand's outstretched, holding nothing. She's turned, I can't see her, and someone slams me into the wall.

The building shakes again, and I throw myself around, pushing through the first gap in the crowd. Don't think about the others. Aigis will get them to safety - and keep them from following me. Hold on, ker, I'm coming.

I'm pushed, thrown against the wall again and again, blood dribbling down my throat, but finally I lunge out and grab the corner of Mitsuru's doorframe, pulling myself around, into the smoke. Thanatos doesn't need to tell me where to go.

Even with the smoke, the apartment's empty, I have room to move. I summon my naginata, free arm covering my mouth. The smog's thick, but I can see the fire beyond it, flickering, streaming over the sitting room, the sofa engulfed. My eyes are watering and – did I really see that? – yup. Sure did.

Heat warps the air, darkness clogging the ceiling. There's an enormous nest of fire in the middle of the room, breathing out smoke and sparks, debris drifting in the air, caught in the breeze that still blows from the windows. And launched from this nest are tendrils, dozens of them, thin and curling, wrapping ivy-like around the television, the floor lamp, the picture frames on the wall, burning everything they touch. And along the tendrils are fat, fiery flowers, round and many-petaled as chrysanthemums.

I hack more than shout. "Get the hell out of here."

More tendrils shoot out, stroking across the table. The ker's voice is soft, neither masculine nor feminine. _Don't dismiss Philotes so abruptly._

I lift my naginata and go at a run.

* * *

Akihiko struggled for focus, trying to pare his thoughts down to two objectives: _Don't let go of Mitsuru_ and _Get out_. He kept his eyes fixed on the back of Shinji's jacket, letting the larger man plow their way down the hallway, shouldering past people turning back towards the flames in search of lost possessions or loved ones, or the people collapsing in the hallways. _Need to look out for them_ flickered through Akihiko's thoughts, and then he heard Yukari swear, felt Mitsuru's weight slump between them, and he swallowed. He couldn't save everyone. No one was that strong. Damn it.

Shinji glanced back, beyond Akihiko, his face drawn, then he put his head down and pushed forward. A middle-aged man fell against Akihiko, shoving him into a wall, and Mitsuru gasped with pain. She was awake? He'd hoped she'd blacked out. No one should remember something like this.

He pushed back his own memories. The orphanage was nothing like this. They'd evacuated the boys' ward before it caught on fire, before half of the girls' ward gone up in flames. Akihiko had had all the time and all the safety in the world to realize that there was still a chance to go back, get Miki, and the workers grabbed him, held him back, Akihiko throwing himself forward, all their weight dragging on his arms.

"Akihiko – " Mitsuru coughed. Her. Mitsuru was the weight in his arms. He had to get her to safety.

"C'mon, senpai," came Yukari's voice. "It – can't be much farther – going to be okay – "

The hallway shook, and he thought he heard Fuuka shout. Then something hard pushed past him, Aigis, eyes locked forward. One of her hands latched onto Shinji. " – door – this way – "

Akihiko bore left – he thought he could feel a cool breeze – but then he saw Shinji's face, broken open with fear. He'd stopped dead, staring at Aigis, then back up the hall. Aigis said something, face blank.

Aigis – where was Minako? Aigis would never leave her.

"What's going on?" said Yukari. He felt her adjust her grip on Mitsuru, then say under her breath, "Don't worry, Mitsuru, don't worry, you're okay."

Shinji lunged back up the hall, back towards the fire, but Aigis clamped down on his arm, and Akihiko heard the snap of his shoulder dislocating.

"What's going on?" Akihiko shouted, trying to reach Shinji, but the crowd had thickened, was shoving in all different directions. "Shinji!"

Shinji was wrenched to the side, pulled almost viciously by Aigis, leading them all to the left. "Follow me," Aigis said. "Now."

Pushing against him, weight dragging on the back of his jacket. Mitsuru's hand. She was trying to straighten and walk on her own. He tightened his arm around her shoulders and told himself that Aigis would never leave Minako in a burning building. Shinji had just – he couldn't imagine what had happened, but –

Other people had realized there was a door down this corridor, pushing, moving fast. There was no fighting the current, and Akihiko just barely was able to glance over his shoulder before he stumbled and almost fell. He thought he saw Junpei, and he was sure he made out Fuuka's distinctive hair. No sign of Minako. But that didn't mean she wasn't there.

* * *

If I'd thought about it beforehand, I'd've said, _What the shit are you doing, Minako, you cannot attack a pile of fire. It's fire. It doesn't have a body, and it will just hurt_. And I would've done something more strategic, like evoke, or look for a fire extinguisher. As it is, I throw myself into the air, angle my body around, and then think _What the shit are you doing?_

And there's an impact – it's not simply fire, it's a ker, there is some kind of energy there – and it still hurts. Can't fight the scream, and I jerk my naginata free from the tangle of flames, falling back. There are burns on my hands and arms, feels like there's one on my face, but they aren't right, too healed over and shooting pain inside my body, not along the surface.

A breathy chuckle throughout the room, heard under the crackling flames. _Why fight? Haven't you been doing this all for me? Didn't you come off your Seal just for me? Didn't you run back to the Velvet Room for fear I would find you?_

"Thanatos!" He surges out, sword flashing across the ker. Can't see that it hurts her. Or any more than I hurt her. If I did.

"Philotes, right? What's that mean?"

_It means everything._

So helpful. I run forward again, raising my naginata, chopping down. Lets me attack her from some distance, and maybe the air shudders – maybe it's just getting hotter – the smoke feels like its clinging to my sweat, blood smeared across my face.

_Or so you told Aigis. _And the fire blossoms glow, and then throw flames towards me. Duck my head, fire blasting across me, cutting burns below my skin, flaming in my stomach. I thud to one knee, then push myself back up, running. Into the air, throwing all my weight into my naginata's blade, into the ker.

Fire slams me backward, not burning my skin, not burning my blood, but burning my bones hollow.

Gasping, picking myself up, legs shaking. And talking, because maybe Philotes will give me a chance to catch my breath. "What – what does this have to do with Aigis?"

_I love you_, the ker says.

* * *

They were moving too fast for thought, and not nearly fast enough. They spilled through the fire escape, Akihiko always keeping Aigis and Shinji in his sights. Pavement under his feet, the crowd spreading out, speeding up – sirens to the left – looking back, the tall building, smoke branching from the windows, fire thrusting though.

"Over here." Fuuka, at his elbow. "Let her lie down over here. Maybe an ambulance can – "

"We'll heal her," Akihiko said. Mitsuru was holding her head up, hair in her eyes, broad burn marks across her face and arms, mouth tight with pain.

"But – " Fuuka gestured to the crowds of people.

"Forget them."

"Most likely no one will notice," Junpei muttered, Koromaru hugged to his chest.

Fuuka'd been leading them to a parking lot at the rear of a nearby building, away from the milling people, the ambulances, the firefighters. Even before they came abreast of the first car, Caesar and Isis manifested, casting healing spells. Mitsuru leaned heavily into Akihiko as the spells overshadowed her and tentatively dropped to her knees, releasing Yukari to hold her hand to her forehead. "Let me – catch my breath." Yukari and Akihiko crouched next to her, Akihiko hardly realizing he'd put both arms around her. It just seemed – right, and therefore necessary.

"Get off!" Shinji growled.

Akihiko's head jerked around just as Aigis slammed Shinji into the side of a parked van, her hands pressed into his shoulders, his face pale with anger and – fear?

Akihiko eased Mitsuru against Yukari and got to his feet.

Junpei started forward. "Whoa, Aigis, what're you – "

"She left her," Shinji said, gasping as Aigis leaned on his wounded shoulder. "Mina's still in there!"

"No way – " Yukari started as Junpei pivoted, facing the apartment building. Flames still fought towards the sky.

"Aigis – " Akihiko ran forward, locked his hands on the back of _her_ shoulders. "Why did you – "

"I was ordered." Aigis splayed her legs, bracing against Shinji's struggles. Her words were even but her voice held a pained, human edge.

"Where's Ken?" Fuuka asked abruptly.

They looked around. No sign.

"Holy shit." Junpei started towards the building. "C'mon, guys, we gotta go!"

"No!" Aigis shouted, stopping Junpei in his tracks. She looked over her shoulder, and despite the harshness of her voice, her eyes were bright with tears. "I cannot let you. She told me to save you."

* * *

"Please stop talking." Have my breath now, the pain in my bones has settled. Naginata up.

Wind or heat ruffles across Philotes. She hunches down, like she's bracing or preening herself. _They will die for you._

Sidestep, looking for the best angle to attack from. "My friends?"

_They will throw themselves back into this fire. They would rather kill themselves than see me dead._

Rotating the naginata, blade down, ready for an upwards swing. The floor shakes, something crashing on the level below. How much has the fire destroyed? Maybe it's all shambles down there, maybe there's no possible way they can get back in –

Maybe they never got out at all – Shinjiro – Aigis –

I catch my breath, fighting back the panic. Tendrils have flicked towards me, flowers burning around my boots. Deep breath, blink, clear your eyes.

"So, what's your other name?"

_I am the immortal ker. Not even Death can touch me. My name is Love. _

Fire flicks against my leg. I step back. "I don't think so. Love is not going to kill all these people, endanger my friends' lives – "

_What else could drive them to such danger? You cannot stop it. Even on the Seal, you yearn for them. Even though you must die, you reach out for him. _

Are they all right? – please, Aigis, don't let them back in –

Stop panicking.

"Fair enough. But I'm still going to kill you. Because I _love_ my friends, I can leave them behind. I can do without them. Got it?"

_"Minako-san!"_

* * *

Shinji breathed harshly. For all his strength, he couldn't push past Aigis, even when she was looking over her shoulder at the rest of them.

Yukari's voice shook, though Akihiko didn't think it was with fear. "We have to go back."

"If you try, I will have to stop you." Aigis seemed to be trying to catch her breath, but she was a robot, so why...? "Please. I have already had to hurt Shinjiro-san. Do not make me subdue you."

"Aigis, don't you understand?" Junpei threw his arm out at the building. "She and Ken could die in there – senpai, _you_ understand!"

Junpei's words shot through Akihiko. First Miki, now Minako and Ken? Akihiko tightened his grip on Aigis' shoulders, though he knew he didn't have the strength to pull her off Shinji.

He turned his head at Mitsuru's voice, hoarse but steady. She'd lifted her head, leaning against Yukari. "Aigis, are these orders from Arisato herself?"

"It doesn't matter who ordered it," Shinji interrupted.

Aigis paid him no attention. "Yes. She wished to assure your safety. I – I should not have lost track of Ken-san."

* * *

I whirl. No – "KEN! GO HOME!"

Admittedly, it makes no sense, but he has to know what I mean. But he's still there, using his spear to shove away the fallen coffee table, coughing in the smoke.

Pain whips across me – Philotes lashing out while I looked the other way – I skip back and evoke, letting Thanatos counterattack.

"It's okay, Minako-san." Ken's eyes water from the smoke. He's not quite smiling and not quite grimacing. "It'll go quicker with two of us."

And then we'll both die and – and –

You know what? There isn't time for this. "Keep up with me!"

Philotes roars out, spreading flames to either side. I see Kala-Nemi's rings flashing bright red. I evoke Thanatos and follow him into the tumult, ducking my head from the flames, stabbing with my naginata and wrenching it in a corkscrew before ripping free. Pain and fire swirl in my vision, and I stagger – and catch myself on the coolness of Diarahan. So awesome, Ken.

_Damn you,_ Philotes whispers, and more tendrils shoot out, lunging forward.

"Go for her center!" I shout as one lashes across my face and neck, throwing myself forward, blade first. Even through everything, I can feel Ken's footfalls thudding across the floor with mine, hear the moment he jumps.

We land at the same moment, into the middle of the fire nest. It leaps up around us, roaring over our heads, collapsing in on us. I grab Ken's hand through the burning, then hug him, covering his head with mine, and there's light – coolness – cracking an eye, I can see Thanatos and Kala-Nemi curved protectively over us, flames roaring across their spines. Then Thanatos throws back his head and roars, haloed in chaos. Kala-Nemi's blades speed, blinding, and Philotes screams.

The flames break away, leaving us standing in the ragged black glyph of a char mark. Our Personas and the ker have vanished. We stare at each other.

Something crashes over head. We could defeat Philotes, but we can't save this building.

"Minako-san." Ken tugs on my hand, pulling me towards the door. No one asks if we're going to survive. Why bother with guesswork?

* * *

Shinji met Akihiko's eye across Aigis' shoulder, held it. Akihiko couldn't look away, nor could he fail to read the intensity – _Why are you just standing there? Don't you understand?_ Taking a shallow breath, Akihiko nodded, eased his hands from Aigis' shoulders, and pivoted to break for the burning building.

Whirling wind, metal colliding with his back – and he slammed into the asphalt, people shouting, pain smarting across his body. He rolled – the whir of Aigis' pale limbs, more shouting, Shinji running past him – and then the hard crack of bone shattering. Anger swept through him. He rocked to his feet, ignoring the blood and the scrapes.

Aigis' eyes were blank again, an expression only a machine could wear. She stood, stepped away from Shinji's prone body, his leg at an ugly angle from his hip. Shinji rolled to his side, groaning through clenched teeth. Akihiko knelt next to him, one hand on his shoulder, the other evoking Caesar.

"Aigis!" That was Fuuka, almost crying.

"You're going too far." Mitsuru pushed to her feet, took a few steps and dropped to her knees at Shinji's side, resting one hand on his hair. Shinji swore.

There were many things Akihiko wanted to say – _Thanks for your help, this break is bad – Hold on, Shinji, it won't last long – What the hell, Aigis, what are you doing –_ but he was trembling with fury and the words wouldn't come. As Artemisia cast Diarahan, Akihiko looked up at Aigis, standing at a distance, hands hanging loosely, eyes molten with tears. She looked quickly away from him, bowing her head.

Shinji shifted his weight, pulling himself up on his elbows. Mitsuru's hand was on his hip, and after another Diarahan, he shook her off, twisting, looking over his shoulder to see the building.

The parking lot was beginning to fill with victims and bystanders. Akihiko pulled Shinji up, Mitsuru on the other side, though after a moment, Shinji took his own weight, the better to watch the fire. The highest two floors had collapsed, the spray from the fire hoses burnished red.

Shinji swallowed, still breathing hard. "Aigis. I understand. I don't blame you." Aigis tilted her head slightly towards him. "But you are going to let me go back in there."

Aigis turned fully to him, uncertain. "But – "

"I don't care what Mina said. You don't have to do everything she tells you."

"Then – then I will go with you. We will all go in."

"All right," Junpei said. "Then let's get going, before any more of this building falls over."

"Shinjiro-san!"

"Shinji!"

Shinji turned so quickly Akihiko and Mitsuru almost toppled. Ken, face smudged with blood and smoke, had just pushed through the crowd, dropping his spear to pick up speed. Minako followed in a moment, bloodier and burnt. She paused in her run, glancing around the group, and Akihiko could practically see her doing the headcount.

Shinji had broken free, and now he thudded into her, hiding her from Akihiko's view. And then – very much to Akihiko's surprise – Ken hugged him around the waist. Akihiko blinked, laughed, patted Ken's head, and now everyone was crowding and talking, ignoring the crowd of frightened outsiders as Isis cast Mediarahan. Ken had picked Koromaru up and was letting the dog wash his face. In the corner of his eye, Akihiko saw that Shinji and Minako had somehow ended up on their knees on the pavement, Shinji holding her face with both hands and, if his expression was any indicator, bawling her out. Minako was crying, and normally that would have been Akihiko's cue to intervene on her behalf, but he had a feeling that wouldn't be appropriate just now. He had just enough time to see Shinji break off and press his forehead to hers before Junpei rose up in his sight line and gave him a one-armed hug and a chest thump. Even though they'd been in the same parking lot the whole time and he'd always known Akihiko was okay.

In another moment, Akihiko found his hands tightly clasped by Mitsuru's as she smiled at him, crying a bit herself – and then they really looked at each other and let their hands drop.

"Holy cow, what are you people doing evoking in public?" Minako and Shinji had gotten back to their feet, she dragging him back towards the rest of them. Her face was a mess, but she was giggling. "Don't you even care?" She kept talking as Junpei and Yukari hugged her. "There are – going to be so many whackassed news stories – "

Her giddiness struck an off chord in Akihiko, and he glanced back towards the building. The flames were only a fringe now, the moon and stars swallowed by smoke. How many deaths had there been? He swallowed, guilty over his own exultation at being alive. Minako hugged him one armed, the other hand still buried in Shinji's, and normally the contact would've flustered him, but he squeezed her shoulders before releasing her. His friends were safe, every last one. That – that was something.

"No, no, don't worry. I'm okay." Junpei was pacing at the edge of their group, talking into his cell phone. "Oh hell, yes I do. I love you so much."

Minako had bent to ruffle Koromaru's fur when she gazed up past Akihiko, and her expression fell. Glancing back, she released Shinji and walked farther into the parking lot, where Aigis stood. From what Akihiko could see, she'd hardly moved, hadn't come forward to greet their leader. Hardly moved now.

"Minako-san – "

Minako put her arms around Aigis' shoulders and glared at the rest of them. "Look, I don't know what happened, but I told Aigis to keep you all back. So if you were mean to her – "

"You shouldn't have made her do that." Yukari stalked forward, eyes bright and hard. "Goddamn, Minako. That was heartless."

Junpei held off, both from getting in Minako's face and from swearing at her, but he couldn't hide that he was upset. "Ai-chan had to total two of our senpai. She broke Shinjiro-senpai's hip."

Even under the smudged blood, they could see Minako'd gone pale, her eyes wide as she looked around at them. Her mouth worked.

Fuuka stepped closer. "I'm sure you... meant well, Minako-chan. But..."

"It is all right," Aigis said softly, fingertips touching Minako's arm. Minako squeezed her eyes shut and ducked her face on Aigis' shoulder.

And abruptly lifted her face and just nodded to anything else the others said, however much they chastised her. Akihiko held off. It'd been a long night, and there'd be time later to get a lecture in.

Mitsuru left off from patting Minako's shoulder, and across the group, her gaze intersected his. They watched each other, Akihiko wasn't sure why, but after a moment, he smiled. They'd done all right.

She smiled back.

"So," Junpei said presently, "who else saved their cell phone?" And they all looked around at themselves. Mitsuru was in a nightgown, but everyone else had slept in their clothes. Everyone had also thought to bring their Evokers and weapons, but there were only four cell phones all told and more than a few pairs of shoes were missing. As the talk streamlined, covering hotel rooms and calls to family members, Akihiko noticed Minako drift back towards Shinji, come to rest against his side, her face hidden against him and her shoulders slack. For the first time, he saw how tired she was.


	23. Chapter 23

**23**

Junpei sat on the stiff hotel couch, held Chidori's hands in both of his own, and stared at his new, painfully white sneakers as he tried to decide how much to say. In a way, he was glad the two of them hadn't gone anywhere more private. Mitsuru had rented a suite at this high end hotel, and Junpei'd kept himself and Chidori in the little sitting area between the guys' and the girls' rooms. Which meant people were constantly passing through, breaking into groups, talking, speculating – and hopefully buffering any potential arguments from Chidori. Mitsuru herself was usually out here, verbally firing into her new phone, when she wasn't going down to the lobby to appease the media hounds.

"The papers seem sure it's some kind of anti-Kirijo effort." Chidori scooted closer to him. "Junpei, if Kirijo-san's in danger, you could be hurt too."

"We don't know last night was an arson thing," Junpei said, kinda truthfully. Minako and Ken had told them they'd fought the ninth ker, Love of all things. "It mighta been an accident. And – and I just know it'll all be over soon." With one ker to go, why not?

Shit, did he want it to be over soon?

"How do you know that? We don't even know who caused it, so how can you know what to expect? Though I've heard some eyewitnesses saying they saw demons." Her upper lip curled on the last word, and Junpei swallowed, trying to remember how many times Akihiko and Yukari had publically evoked last night.

"Look – look, Chidorita. I can't just bail. SEES has to stick together. For Mitsuru-senpai's sake," he added quickly. "Moral support. You know."

Chidori sighed. "I know how important you are." (Junpei pretty much glowed.) "I just wish that – well – no, never mind. I'm proud of you and I love you." She leaned up and kissed him.

"Oh." Junpei released a relieved chuckle. "That's good to know. I love you too."

She gazed at him out of dark eyes, her face still tilted up, her lips not far from his, smiling contentedly. Junpei gazed back, calculating how long it'd been since someone else had barged in, wondering if he should go in for another kiss, when Chidori said, "I think we'll get married someday."

Junpei reeled back. "Huh – wh-wha?"

Chidori watched him composedly. "You heard me."

"Y-yeah but – where did that come from? I mean – I – seriously – "

"It's nothing to get worked up over. I think you'll ask me to marry you some day, and I think I'll say yes."

Words failed him, though his mouth hadn't heard that yet. He shut off his vocal cords at least. Was she – was she just shitting him, or was she getting some kinda prophecy, or was she, like, proposing to him right here, because he – he – I mean, what d'you say to that and –

She stood, brushing her hands down the front of her intricate gray skirt, then leaned down to kiss him again. "Just promise me we'll be out of the city soon." Another light kiss. "I'll see you later." Leaving him still rather agape, she crossed the room to the hall doorway, pausing with her hand on the latch as she turned back. "And please – remain safe."

Junpei stared at her, looking back, pale and delicate, a faint line between her large eyes. Suddenly, he jumped up. "Chidori – I am going to – to fight so that we can leave the city and you don't have to worry anymore. Okay? Seriously? Don't worry!"

"_Fight_, Junpei?"

"Fight – fight while giving Mitsuru-senpai moral support. And beautifying the city. And – and – I am not going to give up doing that until everything's all right. All right?"

She blinked, but tipped her chin prettily. "All... right?"

"So – so yeah. Cool." He thumped his chest with one fist, and later on even he'd think that was a bit much, but whatever. "Don't worry. You can depend on me."

* * *

I followed Shinjiro up here, and Aigis followed me, and Akihiko must have followed Aigis. I wanted to get away from the hotel rooms, and the lobby's crazy with media, and I'd heard the roof was converted into a small garden that's open to guests during the day. It's pretty empty, little blooming this time of year and another snowfall building overhead. Shinjiro noticed me following him, but there was something closed in his expression. Can't say I wanted to talk either, exactly, so we paced aimlessly amidst the brown flower beds, not together but in each other's periphery. Aigis joined us a minute later but went to the far end of the roof, gazing across the city. It's hard to look at her just now, remembering what I'd told her to do in the fire. Telling myself that it was for the right reasons doesn't help.

When Akihiko stalks across the balcony, locked on me, I back up a few steps, glancing over my shoulder for help. Shinjiro's sat on one of the benches, ankle on knee, watching.

And a minute later I'm throat-deep in a lecture about my behavior during the fire. Akihiko's amazing. He's barely paused, hasn't stumbled on a word, and timed his stern glares for maximum guilt-inducing. He's drawn nothing but nods and "yes, senpai"s from me, and each one's felt like a liter of blood. And the worst thing is, the longer he goes on, the more sense he makes. I keep glancing back at Shinjiro, who's still watching expressionlessly and who has not stood up and sauntered over to support me, which means he totally agrees with Akihiko and considers this a fair punishment. Aigis walks over, but she doesn't come close, and when Akihiko's really going, talking about how being a leader doesn't mean forcing everyone to obey you, she nods.

My throat's tightening, but Akihiko's eyes say I must answer. "I understand, senpai."

He's glaring – and then he exhales and frowns. "I know you do, Minako. I just need to know you won't pull some stunt like that again."

_If I'd asked permission to become the Seal, would you have given it?_ I know my own glare's broken through my contrition, and I look away. If I'd had time to think things through last night, would I have done any differently? My friends _were_ saved.

It isn't that easy. "I – I can't promise what I will or won't do, not when things get crazy." That's not a great answer, and before Akihiko can reboot the lecture, I interrupt: "But I know I'm only the leader because you idiots let me be." I gesture to him, Aigis, and Shinjiro, who are the only people here to represent the entirety of SEES. "And if you think I'm ordering you to do something wrong, or stupid, don't obey me. It's only right. You too, Aigis."

Her eyes curve. "Is that an order?"

I stare, so happy she's smiling at me that I'm defenseless as Akihiko starts up again. "Think long and hard before you give orders like that again, Minako. Then you won't have to worry about if they're stupid or not."

My throat squeezes up again. "I know, senpai. Seriously, I know. I was an ass. I know."

"You weren't an ass, you were just being foolish, and you need to remember that we – "

Footsteps, and then Shinjiro's standing behind me. Quiet as he is, his words cut across Akihiko's. "How's it looking below?"

Akihiko blinks. "Huh – oh – " He pulls a face. "Last I saw, Fuuka was scanning, but she didn't see anything. Mitsuru's been up and down the stairs all morning."

I think it's safe for me to talk again. "How's Junpei? Did Chidori-san leave him in one piece?"

"They were still talking when I left." He looks at me, preoccupied, like he's trying to remember something else he wanted to say.

"Do you think we should train?" I ask quickly (and lamely). "The next fight's going to be Ker herself, most likely." Oddly, thinking about it settles me after Akihiko's lecture. Thanatos stirs at her name, like a rush of blood just below the skin.

The lift to Akihiko's right eyebrow tells me he's on to my game, but he smiles and punches his palm. "You should already be training, Minako. If you want, I can lecture you about that – "

I pitch towards the stairs, then pull back. "No. I probably deserve that too."

* * *

Aigis waited for Akihiko and Shinjiro to walk to the far end of the roof before she approached Minako. Akihiko's prolonged lecture seemed to have slowed the girl's heart rate, and her idle movements as she strolled along the flowerbeds were looser, more relaxed. But she whispered, "I'm really sorry," as Aigis fell into step beside her.

"No sweat."

Minako blinked.

Aigis smiled. "Junpei-san taught me. Is it not appropriate?"

Minako smiled back, which would have been enough except that it was the uneven smile that meant she was still unhappy, and she walked quickly for a moment, stepping past Aigis so her face was hard to see.

"I think we will be all right," Aigis said softly. Minako glanced over in surprise, though Aigis couldn't sort out what she was surprised at. All of them – they were going to fight together. No matter what happened, they would have each other. "And no matter what," Aigis said, though she'd said none of the rest aloud, "I will never stop fighting."

Minako tipped her head slightly, uncertain.

With a whir of machinery, Aigis drew herself up and answered the unspoken question. "I will not go back to the labs. As long as I am needed, I will not die."

Aigis didn't say the rest, that she was a robot, that she out of all of them could live to fight the pull of Erebus indefinitely. That she could fight Erebus as long as Minako. That she would never have to rest.

She didn't say it. She wasn't sure Minako herself understood what she was saying. But she watched the girl's expression shift from consternation, to something like alarm, then to a smile.

"Aigis," she said, "you are awesome." She glanced out over the distance. "But... I know last night I said – that is – if you someday find you must rest... then you should rest."

"But I – " _won't_, Aigis meant to say, but she brought herself short. Uncertainty never rested easily in her, but she'd learned many times that she couldn't be sure of the future. Her desire to revert entirely to a mechanical state had meant shutting down permanently. Perhaps her desire to be human would someday result in the same. She paused, wondering if she should feel pain, or despair, or peace. She felt none, only a faint sense that she'd truly be able to share in her friends' fate.

Minako's voice broke into her thoughts. "Can you promise me something? Something else, not about death."

Now Aigis blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Promise that, whatever happens, you won't spend _all_ of your life fighting. Have some fun too."

"But I – "

"I'm just saying," Minako interrupted with a little shrug, "you don't always have to unload bullets to fight a squirt like Erebus."

Aigis dropped her gaze to her mechanical hands, deep in thought. Then she looked up and offered a smile that was fully human.

Minako reached over and took Aigis' hand, tugging her along so they could admire the flower beds that wouldn't be lovely until spring.

* * *

Yukari and Amada met Mitsuru on the staircase, pretty equidistant from Mitsuru's rooms and the lobbies. Amada held a tray with a covered dish, a wine glass of orange juice, and a china vase with a white carnation. Yukari held one of the many jackets they'd had to buy earlier.

Mitsuru lurched to a stop, mind spinning with the questions Action News had just asked her, and the call she had to make to the labs, and Officer Kurosawa had left her a message and – "Um – Yukari, Amada. Can't it wait?"

"You've been letting your breakfast wait too long." Yukari shook the jacket under Mitsuru's chin. "Get something down and then you can go back to work."

Mitsuru frowned at Yukari, then down at Amada. He smiled hesitantly, and there was something hard to resist about it. She felt her own mouth curving, and she clicked her phone off. "Very well then. Five minutes."

To her surprise, Yukari didn't lead them back to the hotel rooms, but up a narrow, clattering stairway to the roof. As the whiteness of an overcast sky broke above, Mitsuru saw that everyone was there, Akihiko and Shinjiro strolling and talking. The three remaining underclassmen were hunched over another tray, reaching around each other for toast and eggs and refills of orange juice, while Koromaru sat at Yamagishi's feet, watching the passing food hopefully. Aigis stood behind Minako, lightly laughing at something Iori said.

"I caught her," Yukari sang out, and Akihiko glanced over, eyes moving immediately to Mitsuru. Mitsuru turned her head as Amada set the tray on the bench adjacent to the underclassmen's. "C'mon." Yukari sat on its opposite side. "Most of us have already eaten."

Mitsuru knew her presence altered the rooftop mood slightly, but she welcomed it. The conversation shifted, became unified, Akihiko and Shinjiro drifting back over, Akihiko hesitating a moment before taking one of the slices of toast Mitsuru had neglected.

"Igor didn't give me a lot of hints about her," Minako said in answer to something Yamagishi said. "Elizabeth – Theo's sister – told me that Ker is also Death." She curled her upper lip in a thoughtful frown, looking across the city. "And Harris said something like that too. That I'm chasing after my reflection."

"Does the big guy know anything?" Iori asked, gesturing to Minako's midsection, and Mitsuru had no idea what he was driving at until Minako shook her head.

"Thanatos doesn't use words. He's not going to say, _Yo, Minako, my sister's waiting for you at the Beef Bowl._ He doesn't even sense her right now."

"Up till now," Yamagishi said, "the keres have almost fallen into our laps."

Amada crossed his arms. "Do you think Ker's hiding?" He and Minako exchanged a look while Iori broke into a broad grin.

"Wouldn't that be nice? The Big Nasty quivering in her booties because SEES is on its way?"

Minako's eyelids flickered down. "Is she drawing this out on purpose? Making it harder?"

"What do you mean?" Yukari asked. Mitsuru could feel a new tension in her voice.

"Nothing," Minako chirped, lifting her chin and smiling. Next to Mitsuru, Shinjiro shifted his weight.

Voices from behind. Mitsuru looked over her shoulder, aware the others were also glancing over. A young couple had just come up the stairs, and they gave a start at being met by twenty tense eyes. The man broke into an unsteady laugh and offered a half-formed wave before towing his companion to the far end of the roof.

Shinjiro snorted. "You're going to be recognized, Kirijo."

"The media can let up for five minutes, can't they?" And Yukari edged closer on the bench, as if trying to shield Mitsuru from view. The man glanced over.

"Watch it," Akihiko said under his breath. "Voices carry really well here."

"I don't see how there can be two Deaths," Ken said abruptly, squinting as he thought. "Isn't Death all the same thing? You aren't alive anymore."

Their gazes swung back towards Minako, assuming, with good reason, that she'd know the most about it.

"The Death that...'took' me was Thanatos." She touched her breastbone. "I didn't know about any other." And her eyes unfocused, her head tipping.

"Is she talking to him?" Akihiko murmured, voice pitched with wonder. Mitsuru leaned forward, almost wishing she could scan Minako – and Thanatos? – with Artemisia right then and there.

Minako blinked, her shoulders straightening. "Well?" Akihiko asked.

"Like I said, he doesn't use words, so it isn't always clear. He kept showing me Hypnos, Takaya's Persona, you know? Hypnos was a ker and Igor said he was... Sleep, I think."

" – hardly seems fair for people to be taking up all the benches and _eating_ up here – "

They glanced over. Apparently sound did travel well, but the female half of the couple didn't even blush as she averted her face. SEES watched them a moment, then turned back to each other. Shinjiro picked up the last slice of toast and crunched it slowly.

"Sleep, okay," Iori said. "So... so what's that got to do with anything?"

"Thanatos kept – " Minako broke off and thought a moment. "You remember how all the keres are siblings, but Oizys said that Momos was her twin? I think... I think Thanatos is saying that Hypnos was his twin."

"Okay..." Iori twitched a shrug. "I still don't see why that's important when Takaya's dead."

"It means that Ker _isn't_ his twin," Mitsuru broke in. "Even if they're both Death, they aren't identical. There's some crucial difference?" She raised her eyebrows at Minako, as if Thanatos would manifest and compliment her comprehension.

"Minako-chan," Yamagishi broke in. "You said Thanatos took you. And you died in your _sleep_."

Minako blinked again, this time with surprise, and her eyes darted to Shinjiro. A look passed between them, too fine-edged for Mitsuru to analyze, but it still made her blush and look away – right at Akihiko. She settled her gaze on her crossed ankles, aware that Akihiko was still watching her.

" – don't care what he said, the prime minister has no idea who the terrorists are – glad they haven't halted traffic from the city."

Minako seemed not to have heard the couple. "I guess... yeah. Though – seriously, Thanatos, I've seen you kill people, and you don't always do it while they're asleep. In fact, it tends to look really painful."

Iori cocked his head, and Mitsuru thought he might be joking, though she often couldn't tell. "Eh, maybe he's much gentler than he has to be. You never know."

Yukari scrunched her face up. "If that's true, I'd rather not see him at full strength."

"That still doesn't tell us anything about Ker," Akihiko interrupted.

" – really hope Auntie Ume can't make it for my birthday, because if she brings another poodle this year, I am going to – "

Shinjiro glowered over his shoulder at the chattering couple.

Yamagishi was concentrating too hard to be distracted. "Igor told you that the keres would be drawn to Thanatos."

"So we should just stay put and wait?" Ken asked.

"And let this superShadow that's maybe nine times more powerful than any other ker we've seen drop into the middle of the city?" Iori said. "No way. We should get Mina-tan out of the city, on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and evacuate everyone within a hundred mile radius. That's the only way we can guarantee Ker doesn't take out half of Japan when she shows up."

"Okay, wait," Minako said, some snap in her voice, "are you joking this time?"

" – at least we'll be able to hit the Toshiko concert tonight, I was really worried it was going to be canceled but apparently she isn't afraid of terrorists – "

"That's it." Yukari stomped to her feet, turning to face the couple, who pretended not to see her. "I'm just going to tell them the Kirijo Group's reserved the rooftop, and that'll be – "

"_There_ you are! Kirijo-san! Yoo hoo!"

Their necks all craned around as they swung their attention from the far end of the roof to the door.

It started with one man in a cheap suit, microphone in hand. He took two steps forward, and then they could see the cameraman behind him, followed by another man with another microphone, and a camerawoman, and then a makeup man, and then two arguing men, trying to shove their way through the door at the same time, butting each other with their microphones.

"Just some follow-up questions, Kirijo-san, about the state of the – "

"Is it true the replacement for the Moonlight Bridge will have a plexiglass walkway and pyrotechnics – "

"How do you feel about the prime minister's response to this, is it really – "

Mitsuru stood, swallowing, bracing, squaring her shoulders, weariness, and routine, and the mind-numbing rote of answering questions trickling back into her veins – and then faltered back as Akihiko and Shinjiro stepped in front of her from either side. One reporter tried to jab his microphone over Akihiko's shoulder, but Akihiko punched it out of his fist.

"Mitsuru Kirijo is not available at present," he said.

"Kirijo-san, please, just a minute – "

"Just a minute is what _you_ get," Yukari said, walking forward, Koromaru growling at her ankles. "To get the hell out of here."

"Taxpayers are anxious to know whether you will be accepting government funding towards – "

"Are you just brushing us off?" Junpei had come up on her other side, hands on hips and chest thrown out. "If you wanna pester Mitsuru-senpai, _we'll_ give you a special bulletin for tonight's news."

The lead anchor broke off his question about whether or not the Kirijo Group was planning to build a whole new island and start over fresh, his gaze jumping around the small crowd. Akihiko and Shinjiro hadn't budged, the latter ramming his elbow into the front of a too-friendly camera. The rest of SEES had fanned out, legs splayed and braced, Minako in the back with her face averted.

The anchor glanced back at his squadron of media paraphernalia.

The anchor looked at the couple, backed up against the railing, as far away as they could get.

The anchor caught Mitsuru's eye. "Action News always get its story." He took a shallow breath and licked his lips. "Men – surround them."

"Full Assault," came Minako's (muffled) command.

As the cameras swung in from either side, attempting a flanking maneuver, Akihiko and Shinjiro barreled forward, striking the center of the media's defensive line. Mitsuru leapt after them, momentum carrying her, pushing aside a microphone and stabbing the pinprick of her boot heel into a makeup man's knee. She heard Junpei curse, then a triumphant yip from Koromaru before they shoved into the bottleneck of the door – tumbling, clattering, banging down the steps, two microphones and a boom windmilling down the stairwell. There was the flash of a camera – a camera subsequently tossed backwards towards the roof – and then a scattered stumble into the hallway, Mitsuru struggling to catch her breath.

"They're still following us!" Yukari puffed as they broke into the hall, doors and corridors fanning out. "Spread out!"

Mitsuru wasn't sure what she was feeling, only that all of it – the hard carpet beneath her heels, her impatience with the media, her friends' anger, the escape – it felt wonderful. As she ran down the hall, she almost welcomed the idea of meeting the last ker around the next corner, or another reporter, or her old fiancé, or Mr. Ekoda. She hadn't felt like this since the last time she'd ridden her motorcycle, headlights streaming away from Port Island. Maybe being drunk was like this.

She exhaled as she pitched to a halt – this corridor had terminated in a small sitting area, green and bright with artificial plants. She wasn't sure if that puff of breath was more a laugh or more a triumphant _hah!_ Either suited her.

Akihiko and Shinjiro were catching their breath, Shinjiro moreso. Seeing Mitsuru, he stalked past her back down the hall, glancing along its length for signs of pursuit.

"That was – " Mitsuru still didn't have her breath.

"You're welcome," Akihiko said, eyes glinting.

"There will just be – more interviews after this."

"We've set up a precedent now." He rolled his shoulders. "We'll know what to do."

Mitsuru took a deep breath, but she couldn't flatten her smile. "I never think to do that sort of thing on my own. I'm always too responsible." She chuckled. "Maybe that holds me back as a leader."

Shinjiro snorted. Mitsuru looked over her shoulder and saw his smile just as he hid it in a grimace. "When you cut loose is about the only time you're bearable."

"Don't tempt me to do this more often." She turned back to Akihiko, her heart rate settling. He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets, looking at the carpet. She waited until he lifted his eyes to speak again. "You enjoyed that far too much, Akihiko."

He brushed that off. "I had to interfere or you might've executed that reporter."

She started to laugh, then cut it off and just smiled.

They stared at each other.

Mitsuru broke eye contact, then almost immediately looked back. Akihiko had winced, then glanced over at the plants, out the window, a light fall of snow. Mitsuru pushed back a sudden impulse to ask if he was cold.

"Akihiko – " came out anyway.

He turned to her, flushed.

Mitsuru crossed her arms on her stomach, stalling for time, searching for what she'd intended to say. Part of her wished she could've opened this conversation by catching him after a boxing match and drawing an Evoker on him.

"Mitsuru – " and then his words broke off.

She met his eyes, and maintaining eye contact was as hard as cradling a coal. She waited for him to speak again, but he wasn't, and why not? It wasn't as if she didn't know what he was trying to say, because what else would he be –

She knew what he was trying to say, so did that argue he already knew what she wasn't saying, so did that mean that they –

Mitsuru's cheeks and neck went chilly, the blood rushing away. Akihiko's eyes were wide and tensed, as if he wanted to punch out an opponent, or run for his life. Mitsuru took a step forward, the movement stilted and graceless.

Akihiko swallowed – and glanced to the side. Mitsuru did too.

Shinjiro was still there. So was a reporter, puffing up the hallway towards them, waving his microphone. And Shinjiro pivoted just in time to intercept the reporter with a ringing headbutt. The reporter flailed backwards, brow blooming pinkly, then swung on his axis and hurtled away back down the hall. Shinjiro watched him, squared his shoulders, and very pointedly didn't turn around to face either of them.

Akihiko had taken a step closer before Mitsuru looked back at him. He met her eyes for a moment, then ducked his head to hers.

Down the hall, Shinjiro glanced once over his shoulder, then sauntered off to find Minako.


	24. Chapter 24

** 24 **

I can't settle. I'll sit down, try to talk with the others or clear my mind, and Thanatos is pushing up against my thoughts. He wants to get out of here, start looking for Ker, but as soon as I say, _Great, where are we going?_, he falls silent. I can't just blunder around Port Island on the off chance that the most powerful ker will meet up with me – because if she does and I'm isolated from the others... I can't think that'll end well.

So I've been pacing around the hotel suite, listening to the others talk, watching as the snow lets up and the sky darkens. People have been in and out. Yukari and Junpei were still light-headed about assaulting Action News (can't wait to see what their special report will be), but then Yukari abruptly switched to grim and wondered where Mitsuru was. Aigis has kept me company, and Ken and Shinjiro came in a bit later. I asked Ken if Kala-Nemi sensed anything, but he looked almost guilty as he shook his head. I guess Kala-Nemi isn't as pushy as Thanatos.

"Any sign of the other senpai?" I ask Shinjiro, because it's easier than being quiet and dealing with Thanatos just now. "I'd hate to think that after all that trouble, the paparazzi ran Mitsuru down anyway."

"I ain't worried." And he ignores my lifted eyebrows to check out the window. The snow's all gone now, the sky clearing, and it's almost evening. In a moment, my heart's beating harder, and I want to reach out for him, regardless of everyone else in the room. It's just that – the end is coming, and my chances to be with him – them – are vanishing. It was easier in 2010, when only I knew, and then not always.

"Duuuude..." And Junpei fits a chuckle into the middle of that. "Mina-tan?"

My eyes jerk to the side. Junpei's about three inches away, peering into my profile. How long was I just staring at Shinjiro? Glancing, I see that he's blushing, eyebrows angled down with embarrassment.

"So... uh..." Junpei crosses his arms and leans back. "You were... receiving another transmission from Ker herself this time?"

"Don't even joke about that," Yukari snaps.

"No, uh – " I gesture, not even sure what I'm trying to get across. "I was deep in thought, but the sight of you and your stupid just vacuumed everything from my head." Okay, weak, I know.

The door clicks open. Akihiko and Mitsuru, finally, talking together, heads inclined and eyes locked.

"Oh good," Fuuka says, "here you are. I was starting to get worried."

They look over abruptly, then peel away from each other to opposite ends of the group, Mitsuru with her arms crossed and businesslike, Akihiko with his eyes averted from everyone else. I glance at Shinjiro, but all his attention is on Akihiko, and when their eyes eventually meet, he gives a small headshake.

No time to process what I think is finally going on because Yukari's swung to her feet and started talking. "Okay, I think we need to be aggressive about this."

"About what?" Akihiko asks.

"Finding Ker. I've been thinking, if we stay put, we may be...'choosing our own ground', but it's not very good ground. If we start chasing her down, we'll either back her into a corner or we'll... provoke her into finally attacking us." She grimaces. I think we're still rattled by Philotes nearly killing us – and a ton of bystanders – in our sleep.

"I agree," I say, "though I can't know how long it'll take for us to search."

"We could split up," Ken says, forehead furrowed like he's thinking this all out as he speaks. "Fuuka-san has Juno, and Aigis-san can sense Shadows some. And of course Thanatos is going to be looking for her."

"You mean triangulate Ker?" Mitsuru asks. "It makes sense from one standpoint, but it's so risky dividing our forces now."

"Three teams of three fighters?" Junpei shakes his head. "Nah. What if one of them gets cornered by Ker?"

"I wonder what form she'll take." Fuuka looks over at me. "Do you have any ideas?"

I shake my head – but then my thoughts hitch back to that dream I had, before Philotes attacked. All that cold, wet whiteness and a smiling red mouth. "Well... I kind of get a 'snowy' feeling about her."

Junpei looks blank and Akihiko shoots me a glance like he wants to just take out my brain and figure things out for himself. Aigis nods. "I will place Snow Analysis on highest priority."

"I don't know if she actually_ is_ snow," I babble. "It's just – I had another of those dreams and she was talking to me, and it was like being in the middle of a snowdrift."

Nobody really knows what to make of this, especially as the snow stopped hours ago.

"Well," Mitsuru says into the uneasy silence, chin lifted, eyes narrowed and a grim smile on her lips. "It's almost nightfall. I suggest we take to the streets and give this Ker an opportunity to find us."

Yukari gives her a look that's almost wry. "Without knowing what to expect, senpai?"

Akihiko cracks his knuckles. "All we have to expect is a fight."

* * *

Even with the adrenaline knotting in my stomach, the SEES van feels cozy, swinging out of the hotel's parking lot into the streets. Thanatos is wide awake, listening for something he'll recognize, and I keep half of my attention on him, the other given over to my friends. Mitsuru drives one handed, the right free and (I assume) ready to reach for the foil already on her hip. Fuuka's silent, eyes closed, all her senses given over to Juno. Next to me, Aigis has accessed her own, less-sophisticated elygic sensor. Shinjiro's on my other side, axe lying across his knees, Koromaru sitting between his feet. Akihiko and Ken are talking in the next seat behind, too low for me to follow, but I hear them mention Kala-Nemi and Ker – and Thanatos. I can only hope all of us combined will be strong enough to weaken Ker to the point where Ken and I can kill her. Farthest back, Junpei and Yukari are talking quickly, and so I assume they're arguing. Yukari laughs though, so maybe that's good. Whatever happens, we have to keep our spirits up.

I shiver. Shinjiro presses the outside of his arm against mine.

"Hey – " Ken sees it first, but I think it pulls all our focus around. On the other end of the city, stark against the clear night, is the sudden spangle of a white firework.

"There's no festival right now," Yukari's says, already suspicious. Another firework shatters, white on black.

"I can't think what's going on." And Mitsuru rolls the wheel, turning us towards the display. More fireworks follow, arcing, streaming, large and small. All are white. Thanatos is keyed up, like a dog straining on a leash, taking my breath.

"Is she calling us towards her?" Yukari asks. "Does she want the whole city to know?"

"We aren't sure it's her – " Mitsuru starts.

I clamp my fingers on my seat, breathing shallowly. "If you turn away from those, Thanatos might rip out of me and just keep going."

We can hear the fireworks now, high whistles and rapid retorts like pistols. They're flashing across the city, lighting it brighter than daylight for less than a second at a time.

Akihiko leans forward. I can feel his head above mine. "What's all this traffic?"

I blink against the red-orange flares of rear lights, street lights – and there are people on the streets, policemen and civilians, reflective bracelets flashing, traffic wands glowing –

"We're almost at the Oonishi-Sato Stadium," Mitsuru says. And I can already see the long, crescent building, its countless rows of lights swinging into view. We're right at the edge of Port Island, the stadium nearly on the ocean.

"Is there some kind of riot?" Akihiko again. "Or a protest or – "

"Look at those vans!" Yukari's strained forward, pointing out the right side window. "Look, they're tour vans."

We all lean to the nearest windows, hands bracing on the glass. Four long tour vans are parked prominently at the front of the stadium, their sides emblazoned with the photo of a pale young woman, surrounded by policemen and a mob of people waving their arms, bright with glow in the dark bracelets and tattoos.

"It's a concert," Fuuka says.

"That's right," Junpei says abruptly. "They've been talking about that. Port Island is the last stop on Toshiko Miura's tour. They weren't sure she was gonna show up, but I guess she did."

I can hardly focus through Thanatos' pressure in my mind, but I blink, hard, and can make out a wide white banner spread above the stadium's entrance: _Toshiko 2012: the Swan Song_.

"Minako-san?" Aigis has been saying my name. "Does Thanatos sense Ker?"

Thanatos surges in me, seems to rattle my skull, my vision popping.

_Stop it Thanatos, give me a moment to get myself together I need to think I need to think– remember how to talk –_ I swallow and nod. My fingers clamp around metal – Aigis' arm.

"Mina?" Shinjiro's voice.

"Juno can't sense anything." Fuuka's voice.

" – looks like we need to get in there anyway. Hey! Minako!" Hard fingers on my shoulder. I jolt, momentarily bypassing my awareness of Thanatos, and Akihiko's squeezing my shoulder, hitting (no doubt deliberately) a nerve. My entire body flinches.

"Minako-san?"

"Minako?"

"Mina-tan?"

"I'm okay!" I yelp before I've even thought to say it. Mitsuru's pulled into an alley. The rearview mirror flickers like a strobe light, reflecting the fireworks, the dizzy glare of the cars.

Junpei's voice comes from just behind me, on a level with my ear, even and Akihiko-like in its grimness. "She's waiting for us in there, isn't she?"

I swallow. "Thanatos thinks so."

"A pop concert?" Yukari swears. "This is crazy."

Somehow Ken's gotten up front, kneeling between Fuuka and Mitsuru. "How are we going to get in?"

At some point, Shinjiro had slanted his arm in front of me, restraining me from – from what Thanatos was trying to do? What _was_ Thanatos trying to do? "Go around to the back of the stadium. It'll be fastest that way."

"We can't sneak in," says Yukari. "There's gonna be security there too."

"We don't need to sneak." Pulling his gaze from me, Shinjiro jerks his chin towards Mitsuru. "We got backstage passes."

Mitsuru stares at him, as if incredulous or offended or simply unsure how to proceed, then she firms her lower lip and shoves the van into Drive.

What are we doing?

I mean, I know, we're going to try to crash this concert, but what are we _doing_? How are we going to fight her in front of hundreds of witnesses? Can we draw her out of the stadium, away from these people? Should we retreat and regroup? (Thanatos roars in my mind, for a moment deafening all thoughts.)

The van turns sharply, bouncing us all against each other. Shinjiro's dropped his arm, fingers around my hand, and when I glance at him he flicks his gaze forward, mouth set. Lights streaming in both corners of my eyes, Aigis' profile as she leans forward to check something, Ken saying something to Akihiko, his voice answering behind me. Everything comes in shards.

I'm the leader. I'm the Great Seal. I'm not supposed to be sitting here gasping. Just take things as they come.

I don't realize everyone's fallen silent until Mitsuru suddenly says, "All right," under her breath and brings the van to a stop. We've halted at the rear of the stadium, the fireworks reflecting off of hundreds of parked vehicles. Fewer people here, angular avenues picked out with police tape. More flashing red – a policeman with a traffic wand coming up to the window, Mitsuru rolling it down.

"No entry beyond this point, ma'am."

Mitsuru has produced her wallet, and she must have seen some more movies since I knew her because she lets it fall open just like a noir detective flashing his badge.

"I beg your pardon," she delivers in her smooth, low voice with that edge that's rarely comfortable, "but I and my entourage must continue."

Face twitching, trying to frown but not quite there, the policeman accepts the wallet, glancing from it to Mitsuru's face several times. "Ms. Kirijo. I – I've been told not to let – "

"Most certainly, but special provisions have been made for us. It _is_," Mitsuru adds, calculated lightness in her tones, "partially because of my mother's beneficence that this stadium was built."

And of course the entire island might as well have a Kirijo Electronics copyright stamped on its surface.

The policeman stares from the wallet to her again, then leans forward and peers, lower lip jutting out, as if he's _really_ not sure it's her. And then sweeps his gaze towards the rest of us. With a volcano of adrenaline through my stomach, I remember that we're armed and dangerous.

I glance jerkily around. Fuuka's legs are crossed, hiding the front of the false glove compartment. Ken's somehow eased back into his and Akihiko's seat. Koromaru's tucked away under my seat, tickling my calves with his fur. Aigis' arms are folded, and Shinjiro's free hand rests on his thigh. Checking the rearview mirror, I see Yukari and Junpei inquisitively sitting in the backseat, Junpei with his arms crossed over Ken's headrest.

"My entourage," Mitsuru repeats, holding the policeman's gaze and not letting it drop to the foil on her left hip.

Pursing his lips, the policeman passes her wallet back and gestures with his baton. "Park over there." Mitsuru rolls the window up and starts driving again.

"Entourage?" Shinjiro repeats, all but obscured by Yukari's laugh. "_Entourage_, senpai? Can I ask for a New Year's bonus?" And there's a general shifting and twisting around as people recover their weapons from beneath and between seats. Ken's spear took up most of the floor, Yukari'd wedged her bow and quiver under her seat and she and Junpei had been forced to sit on his katana.

Cold air blasts as we leave the van. I walk quickly, lengthening my strides, trying to ease my tight muscles and steady my breathing. Thanatos has quieted, but I can feel him panting, a counterpoint to my own pulse. There's only one policeman watching us, the one Mitsuru talked to. He's standing right at one of the stadium's back entrances – not a nice big one that the roadies would've used, but a fire door that's been propped open.

"Akihiko, Arisato," Mitsuru murmurs. "You're unarmed. At least superficially. You're going to have to distract the policemen while the rest of us go in."

"I too will help," Aigis says, hiding her gun-hand in her coat. She leads the way, Akihiko and I falling behind, glancing nervously at each other. What should we do? It's got to suck up attention, but we can't do something that'll get us arrested. I glance back at the rest of SEES waiting by the van. I could – I could grab Akihiko and make out with him, that'd get attention, but he might reflexively hit me –

"Excuse me," Aigis says, stopping directly in front of the policeman, closer than most humans would be comfortable with. "I would like to know what security measures you have enacted."

Uh oh. That's a bit suspicious.

As the policeman's eyebrows lift, Akihiko steps in. And seriously, he sounds like a policeman himself. "You must be aware of the recent uproar, which has placed Ms. Kirijo at risk. As her entourage, we need to know where to move her in case of trouble."

Blinkity blink. "Excuse me?"

Movement behind me, the others walking into the fire escape. I hear the clink of someone's weapon and talk over it: "As Ms. Kirijo's security personnel, we will of course rely on the cooperation of Port Island's police force."

His face is slackening, lacking protocol to hold it nice and tight. "You're security personnel?"

Hey, yeah. I mean, I'm kind of in a uniform, and Akihiko's got his cool dark jacket on which is imposing, and you don't mess with the expression Aigis is wearing. So we forgot our dark glasses. Damn, we should've brought dark glasses, that would've been – "Please don't waste our time, officer. Ms. Kirijo wants to see the concert." I glance. Everyone's gotten through.

"I was not informed of any supplementary security being provided by the Kirijo Group."

"Then you will have to complain to your superiors," Akihiko deadpans.

The officer blinks again, squinching up his whole face, hand reaching vaguely for his radio. He's pretty young. Doesn't have much weight to throw around. "Well, I... uh... we've set up a parameter around the – " And he starts detailing. I listen – if we do manage to lure Ker away from the crowds, the best thing we can do is get her out of here, period.

"That is sufficient," Aigis says, also noticing that our job is done. "We will investigate the stadium's defenses for ourselves."

"Right." He waves his baton. "On your way."

The others haven't gone far. We collect at the end of the first hallway and head up the first flight of stairs we see.

"See anything, Fuuka-chan?" Junpei asks as we climb.

"Lots of people, probably," Yukari says, nudging me from behind to move faster.

"Yes." Fuuka's eyes are shut, and she keeps her hand on Ken's shoulder. "But no sign of Ker. Are you sure, Minako-chan?"

I almost expect Thanatos' growl to roll out of my own mouth. "Thanatos is sure."

"But do you have any idea where?" Akihiko asks. "Is this going to be another of those things where the Shadow's hiding in the wiring?"

"Outta the way," someone barks, and as we come to the top of the stairs, we nearly tumble back as two roadies pass, carrying what looks like a smashed amp. The ground vibrates percussively, and I can hear a muffled roar that isn't Thanatos. The concert must've started. I'll have to ask Junpei later whether Toshiko's any good.

Later? What's later?

"Keep moving," Mitsuru says under her breath, hurrying us along. We're at the edge of a wider backstage area, well out of the way of the concert personnel. Lots of roadies, but also some press folks, and a dumpy woman who looks like a nanny trying to entertain a group of toddlers. How many people fit on those tour busses?

"Any sign, Fuuka?" Yukari asks. None. Thanatos twists around, scenting, searching.

"This way." Akihiko throws a side door open. "Let's get out of here."

More corridors. Fewer people. Still that drumming through the floor – nice syncopation, from the sound of things. "I think we're getting closer," I mention.

"To Ker?" Ken asks.

"To the concert arena."

Junpei swears. "C'mon, Fuuka, maybe if you evoke, you'll get a better sense of things."

"Junpei's right. Thanatos might want to do everything himself, but he's not a scanner."

We check up and down the hall, then Fuuka pulls her Evoker. We press up against the walls to get out of Juno's way, waiting in silence as her head tips back, long hair waving.

Juno shatters. Fuuka opens her eyes wide. "It's much clearer now. She's definitely here."

"Where?" Akihiko asks.

Fuuka frowns, almost a grimace. "In the arena."

"Shit, no way." I glance at Ken. "We can't fight her in front of all those people. They'll see us and – she'll definitely try to hurt them."

Ken isn't looking back at me though. "She's in _there_? But she's Death, not... Music or Popular Culture, or something like that."

"It's an enormous crowd of people," Shinjiro says. "If she wants to live up to her name, she's got plenty of souls to choose from."

"So what's the plan?" Junpei's head is forward, jaw set. "We flushing her out or what?"

"That'll be hard when she probably already knows we're here," I say. If Thanatos can sense her, she must be all keyed up to see him.

"You're sure you can't locate her within in the arena?" Mitsuru asks Fuuka. "It's too muddled?"

"That's not it at all. It's as if all of the arena is under her control. Juno sees her as being everywhere at once."

Yukari turns quickly, checking up and down the hall again. "Is she gonna take over the whole building?"

Fuuka shakes her head. "I don't know. I – She's incredibly powerful." She winces. "Juno's contact with her was almost painful. She probably could take over the stadium."

"_If_ we give her enough time to," Akihiko says, meeting my eyes. "Well?"

I swallow, adrenaline and nausea and some kind of battle lust suffusing my stomach. "The longer we wait, the better chance she has of hurting everyone."

"We might've wasted too much time," Fuuka says.

"We'll do everything we can to lure her away, so she can't focus on the arena. Better that we get tangled up in these corridors than in there." A deep breath, and I look around at all of them. "Ready, Ken?" He nods. "Okay. Fuuka, where's the nearest entrance to the arena?"

Junpei bumps his shoulder against mine. I think he's trying to lighten things up, but his mouth is too grim. "Let's just go for the stage, grab a mic and call her out."

"This way." Fuuka leads us to the end of the corridor, opening into a rough, unlovely rotunda full of unpacked crates, lights, booms, mics, even some clothes racks loaded with slack garment bags. The music's louder, melodies and harmonies distinct, and the walls seem to shimmer and vibrate from noise. There are some roadies, and one of them looks like he's about to intercept us, so I square my shoulders and do my best to channel Mitsuru, trusting I'll look so authoritative and purposeful that no one could question my – and our – presence here. Maybe it works, or maybe he looks at the real Mitsuru, but he stops halfway, squints, then heads over to the others, leaving us in peace. Our shoe soles smack against the concrete floor. There's a set of thick gray double doors at the far end of the room.

"You aren't really leading us out onto the stage?" Yukari asks, voice hitching with alarm.

"I'm not sure," Fuuka admits. "I might be."

Mitsuru glances at Akihiko, and her face is so set it's more frightening than beautiful. "No matter. We'll do whatever's necessary to stop this."

"Keep up with me, Ken-kun," I call back. Somehow, Shinjiro and Aigis have flanked me again, Koromaru trotting at Shinjiro's heels, eyes glinting redly in the sporadic light.

Ken smiles, which, to me, is a wonderful sign. "I did before, Minako-san."

This is going to be rougher than Philotes though. No matter. Mitsuru's right.

We stop in front of the doors, clearly marked as SATO ARENA A-4. The music thunders, and we can hear voices now, the bawl and scream of the crowd, and above it, unearthly in its clarity and amplification, a woman's staccato delivery. Small movements throughout all of us, weight shifting, heads tilting, eyes turning to me. I put my hand on the door. Thanatos?

He growls, low, and it's not my imagination: I can feel it in my own chest.

Fingers curl around the handle and I jerk the door open, squinting against the sudden glare. Strobe lights, blue-white spotlights, screens with glittering snowfall – and the crowd, a black mass, arms lifted, random glowing points of light, dark, upraised fingers – it's like a flood of Shadows. The music pounds, even the pure notes of the piano shattering and sharp, but there's a fluid melody, angry and sweet at once.

My eyes are drawn far away, front and center, to the wide stage. It's blinding, white and pale and blue, its back nothing but screens showing a spiraled mess of snowfall and mist. Tall inverted icicles thrust upwards, white forms swinging around them, legs splayed, hooked in, toes pointed, bodies rocking, some mix of a ballet and a pole dance. Male and female dancers. Diaphanous fabric flutters from hips and thighs, their arms trailing white swan feathers.

"You getting anything?" Junpei shouts in my ear. Not because I'm not paying him attention, there's just no other way to communicate. We're at the back of the arena, no chairs, but the ground rising steadily towards us, the crowd mostly spilled away. It's much darker at this end and even the people closest to us haven't noticed our entry.

I cast around, like I can trust my eyes to find Ker, but until Thanatos tells me something there's nothing else. Impossible to see, and the little I can make out doesn't look unusual – I mean, people having fun and freaking out. Glance back to the stage, because it's the only well-lit thing in the room. I catch it just as the dancers simultaneously lunge into the air, and in the whirls of their feathered arms, I realize Toshiko herself must be on stage. She's hard to make out, small, pale and in a white dress. She's even dyed her long hair white. She dances less than the others of course, concentrating on singing, but her movements are graceful and controlled, the backlight picking out her shape through her dress' thin fabric. She has the same figure I did at age twelve, though her voice makes it clear she's eighteen, maybe as old as twenty. Good voice. Pity I died before she got her big break.

Now, Thanatos, are you getting _anything?_

Exasperated, I glance back at Fuuka. She gives me an equally helpless look. "Go on," I tell her. "No one's going to notice."

She glances doubtfully around, then puts her Evoker to her head. The rest of us stand around Juno's skirt, trying to look casual. As far as I can see, no one turns away from the stage.

"No good." Fuuka sighs, eyes downcast as Juno vanishes. "I know she's here, but she could be anywhere."

Thanatos, seriously. This is your show. Be awesome. Hissing out my breath, I turn away (belatedly realizing that Fuuka might blame my impatience on herself), running my eyes over everything I can make out, the light fixtures, the hundreds of silhouettes of the crowd, the dancers, kneeling now, wings raised as the song crescendos to a close, Toshiko's head tipped back, one bare arm thrown up. Thanatos wrenches himself around, pushing against my thoughts, like I'm the one holding him back. C'mon, you've done it before, you've found them. I know she's stronger than any of the others, but we can do this. But my words aren't helping, and Thanatos' growl sounds desperate.

White fireworks appear on the screens, their boom and popping obliterated by the screaming and applause.

I feel movement next to me, rough fabric brush accidentally against me. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do," I say, not shouting, and maybe Shinjiro can't hear me, and maybe I don't want him to right now. "I've brought everyone up to this point and there's just nothing."

The applause dies, the dancers skim away to either side, and the stage lights dim as a slow piano intro starts. Snow-like sparkles waft across the stage, empty of everyone but Toshiko. The screens flicker out of the snowfall and fix on her face, so pale she illuminates half the stadium. I've never seen anything like it – white eyebrows, long white eyelashes, eyes of palest gray. She has a lovely smile, painted fresh-blood red.

Thanatos doesn't use words, but I can still read the trend of his thoughts. And I definitely use nice, easily-read words. And I'm sure, at the same moment, we both think, _Oh shit._


	25. Chapter 25

**25**

I feel my eyelashes flutter as I blink. The audience isn't screaming now, letting the slow ballad build, and I can hear my heart pounding in my ears.

"There's a risk, but perhaps someone other than Yamagishi should evoke," Mitsuru says behind me. "Just to provoke Ker to action."

"Guys," I say, and it doesn't quite come out, so I swallow, trying to smash flat the fear and nervousness, and just try to tell myself that yay it's finally ass-kicking time. Except that there's this enormous crowd, and these cameras, and what are we going to do about those? And she's Ker, maybe she can kill all of us and – "Guys," I say again, and the others press closer to hear me, Shinjiro and Aigis right at my side.

"'Sup, Mina-tan?" Junpei asks. I don't look away from the stage. The cameras are still on Toshiko, her face emblazoned fifty times larger behind herself.

"Minako?" Yukari asks.

She's singing. Lyrics from her song trickle inanely through my ears: ".._thought you'd go, but you didn't show me your heart_..."

Another swallow and it's time to stop thinking about everything that will go wrong. "I need to get to the stage."

Some heads turn, and then I hear Akihiko suck in his breath. "You're kidding!"

"Sorry."

Shinjiro shifts his weight next to me, lifting his axe onto his shoulder.

"..._are you really going to try to talk to me now?.._."

"We're – we're going to attack her in front of everyone?" Ken asks.

"If you can think of some way to draw her out of here..."

"The stage is pretty high off the ground." Akihiko's peering through the artificial gloom. "And it's guarded."

"We can do it," says Shinjiro.

"I will throw Minako-san up onto the stage if necessary," says Aigis.

"Does she know we're coming?" Yukari asks.

Toshiko's – Ker's – face flickers across the screen, tipped, so pale she's unreal, always with that red smile. "_...are you really going to try to call this goodbye?_..."

In a moment, the cool shaft of my naginata rests in both hands. "Ken?"

He hoists his spear forwards, and I can hear him take a deep breath. "Okay, senpai."

"Guys – whatever happens – " And I shouldn't have tried to speak, because the more I say, the more my energy drains away. So I nod and don't look anywhere but at the stage, glowing – glowing like a clumsy copy of Nyx's egg.

Can't be worse than that. I push off my left foot into a run.

Light and darkness stream in my peripheries, the crowd flailing and cheering as the music swells, my friends lunging forward on either side of me. Any aisles have been obliterated by the crowd. I'm not here to hurt them, so I keep my blade down, angling the butt of my weapon forward.

Ker lifts one hand as her song crescendos, and the floor bucks beneath my feet. I stumble, falling forward, catching myself – and then the ground falls away. The singing stops. Ker lowers her hand to her temple, and for a moment I'm sure she's going to have an Evoker somehow, going to fire it – but she slips her headset free of her hair and lets it clatter to the floor.

The crowd's cheering turns into screams, garbled, incoherent and uncomprehending. Jagged lines have broken under my feet, shifting, toppling. My blade vanishes and I flail an arm out, reaching for Shinjiro, but the ground shifts, rocking me out of reach. I stumble back, and my heels hit empty air, toppling me, hip slamming the shattered floor, glancing down, nothing but darkness –

"Are you serious?" a woman's voice asks, somehow not shouting above the screams.

Thanatos surges free of me.

* * *

Aigis sensed the breakage less than a second before it occurred, and she had already braced, shifted her equilibrium, and reached for Minako. They were almost upon the audience, and she had failed to calculate its reaction to catastrophe. As the floor buckled, lunged upwards and over, people tumbled, screamed, threw themselves backwards. Aigis just had time to switch to thermal imaging before she swerved to avoid a woman falling. Aigis side-stepped, searching out Minako. The girl's heat signature was unique, neither alive nor dead, and Aigis found her in an instant. The ground shook and wrenched apart, like a scar being ripped open, leaving a narrow black gulf in the arena's floor. In the mess of falling people, Aigis sensed Minako falter.

The robot lunged, her fingers closing on air. She hesitated, searching the darkness, picking out individual heat sources, hunting for Minako. Then she collected herself and jumped headfirst into the abyss.

Arms stretched, fingers splayed to break her fall – she hit a floorboard and shattered it, then caught herself on jutting rock. Clamping fingers around it, swinging herself around, feet punching, finding purchase in the jagged rock wall. Rock? Dense, dark, igneous. Totally inappropriate for an artificial island, much less fewer than a hundred feet below the stadium. What did it mean?

People fell past her, screaming, one vomiting. No sign of Minako. Pushing away her fear, Aigis switched to infrared vision, searching for the rest of SEES. Their signatures wouldn't be unique, but they hadn't been far from her, and maybe she could pick them out visually. Had they fallen in, or had they been able to –

Aigis read a Shadow, an enormous monster, and she lifted her gun. It swept down through the abyss towards her, falling faster than the humans – and she jerked her gun away as she recognized it. Thanatos rushed, a blast of heat past her, down into the darkness.

Aigis scanned, attempting to map the abyss' dimensions. The gash itself was forty meters long and twelve meters at its widest point. Her scanners failed before she found the bottom, and she could no longer sense Thanatos.

Aigis switched off her scanner, thermal imaging and infrared vision, gazing down. The lights from the arena couldn't reach her, and she couldn't make out her own legs, nor a screaming man who fell hardly five feet from her. It was only darkness.

She switched her thermal imaging back on and released the rock ledge, letting herself fall.

* * *

Ken pushed up from the cold ground, the side of his face soaked with blood. He blinked against the soft blue light – had they made it to the stage? No – the arena – everything had broken, and Shinjiro had grabbed him and then they'd fallen –

He blinked. All he could see was a grooved black wall – stone? – with a blue glowing lichen. They'd fallen. His nose had bled and he'd been unable to breathe for a moment, and he'd just been waiting for the impact, one last smack of pain before death. But it hadn't come, and he was sure they'd fallen for at least a minute – but that was impossible, Port Island wasn't that thick, and he didn't think there were any caves beneath it. And if he'd fallen that far, he should be dead. But his knees didn't even feel bruised.

Ken swallowed, somewhere in his mind comforted that he could still think logically, but dimly aware that he was focused on the wrong things.

The stage – killing Ker – wait – where were the others?

He pulled his head around, and his vision swirled, but only for a moment. Not a concussion. He'd scraped his temple on the floor when it first broke open, that's right. He blinked again, eyes clearing.

Shinjiro lay some feet off, hair over his face, one hand on his axe shaft, blade gouged into the rock floor. No visible blood, and in the silence, Ken could clearly hear his even breathing. Just beyond him, Ken made out the pale blue of Yukari's jacket, her arm thrown up over her head, mouth open as she slept.

Ken's knuckles scraped against the floor as he grabbed his spear, and though his legs didn't quiver, he used it to lever himself to his feet.

They were in a wide, almost circular chamber, like a bowl in the cave. Ken couldn't see any caverns feeding into this room, and, tipping his head back, he only made out darkness. All of SEES lay tumbled and senseless on the ground, Koromaru clasped safely to Fuuka's chest, Junpei with the fingers of his left hand clenched around his hat. Akihiko had grabbed the back of Mitsuru's jacket, and her Evoker was drawn.

Ken looked around again, quickly, fear rising as he double-checked, then took a deep breath and shouted, filling the air with echoes. "MINAKO! AIGIS! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

* * *

I've blacked out.

I have just enough time to realize this before my eyes open, and I'm looking up into darkness – and there's a blue haze in my peripheries. Rocks and – moss or something? Wait, how did I survive that fall? I roll to a sitting position, then to my feet, not even dizzy. Fog puffs from between my lips, cold shivering across my skin. I pull my blazer tighter around myself, turning, trying to take everything in at once. Blood in my ears? – No, I'm hearing flowing water, some distance away. What the hell? This isn't Port Island. Where did I –

My gaze snags on pure white and I freeze.

At the far end of the cavern, almost more luminescent than the moss, Ker's standing, hands clasped loosely in front of herself. Her hair hangs long and straight, too white.

She makes a soft sound like a snort, and, speaking, her voice sounds a bit younger than it did singing. "My brother came back for you." When I stare, she makes an impatient movement with her shoulders and clarifies. "He was about to attack me, on the stage, but he saw that you'd fallen and went back for you. What a softie."

Thanatos growls, and it doesn't stay in my mind – I can tell she hears it too, because her lips press into a vague smirk.

"Where are my friends?"

She flicks her hand. "Around. You can find them if you want, but you'll have to go back."

"What?"

"If you're stuck on them, you can't stay here." She brushes her hair off one shoulder. "I thought you'd be here to see me, not find them."

I want to take her white arms and splinter them. _"Where are they?"_

She points to one rough, stony corridor. "That way. Eventually. But they might be dead before you reach them."

I've started towards the corridor, just to see, but I wrench myself back around. "What? Why?" The naginata's out, my muscles trembling with cold and adrenaline.

"Because I have to punish you somehow. So you can turn back and try to make sure they're okay, or you can do what you're supposed to and deal with me." She crosses her arms. "Death and I, we have things to settle."

I turned back towards her, taking a few steps forward, steadying my muscles. "Now _you're_ calling me Death too?"

"Don't be so pissy, Orpheus. You haven't come this far to choose your friends over me."

_"Thanatos!"_

He sweeps free from me just as Ker bends herself backwards, turning a light little flip – and when she handsprings into the air, her hair's darkened and black wings have burst from her shoulders. She rotates one hand and an apple appears in it.

I'm running, but there's no way I can catch up before Thanatos leaps upon Eris, metal jaws ripping into her chest. She twists free from him, ichor flickering down, her ribcage showing through the oily clot. No muscle, just pale bone. I kick into the air, met by the blast of Bufudyne. It rattles through me, but honestly, I couldn't feel any colder. I shove my blade into the wound, pushing it through, feeling her back rip. She drags all ten claws down my face, nearly hitting my right eye, heat slicing down my neck. My weight drags me down, taking my naginata with me, and as I pull free, she vanishes, leaving nothing but a black smear from my blade to my knuckles and ten red lines on my face.

Ker reappears and lands, as if her flip was never interrupted, spotless and white with her ankles together. In another small movement, she's elongated, twisted, her whiteness flaking and poked and wrinkled. Like a dry white muscle, she pulls herself into a new form, a towering, emaciated old man with long arched claws.

The images are coming to me already, my friends, decades from now, happy and utterly carefree without me, and I can't fight _that_, not time, but I can fight Geras himself. I hit him at a run, stabbing bloodlessly through his chest, and his long fingers mesh around my throat. Suspended, I brace my feet against his chest, hauling back, vision popping and sparking, pushing my blade upwards. Geras snarls, releasing me, and I hurtle back, almost losing my weapon as it judders free of him. There's a twisted, dry gash in his chest, the only color on him the smears of my blood on his hands.

Before I've got to my feet, he's lunged, the heel of his hand hitting my skull, pinning it to the rock, shoving my neck around. I kick out, hit nothing, stab upward with my blade. My vision's nothing but black and red swirls, my hands numbing, so I don't feel if my blade strikes, can't reach for Thanatos, can't –

Screams humming through my bones. And a lash of cold air as Geras reels back from me, ripping away from my naginata, stomach torn, leaving something white and dessicated on my blade.

Geras screams again, head, shoulders, hips shrinking inwards, towards the wound – then it spills outward, shattered bones and shredded muscle, scattering across the floor. As I clamber up, shaking my blade clean, the debris reforms, darkens to iridescent green, becoming a gigantic, seven-headed snake. Each head wears a mask with my face in a different attitude – laughing, crying, sleeping, bloodstained, upper lip arched with my tongue slipped out to lick it.

Momos, right? I sidestep, watching as the necks writhe. With so many heads, he can look in almost every direction simultaneously.

_You should have told them you were dying – _

Nope. Thanatos manifests, Megidolaon lighting the cavern better than Ker could. Momos flinches, necks closing over his body, then unfurls and snaps towards me. I'm good, but I can't intercept seven heads at once. I evoke and dash. Thanatos roars, attacking the heads. I take my first attack at a leap, twisting and slamming blade-first onto Momos' back, his flesh squelching, ichor spraying across my leg. Brace my foot on the blade, shoving down to drive it in – and then Momos bucks, and I clutch my naginata for dear life, but it hasn't sunk in deep enough to hold. I tumble away, Momos' scales rushing across the ground as he hoists himself around, and I've evoked by the time my shoulders hit the stone.

Momos rears, heads flung back, body haloed in Thanatos' Maragidyne. Scales blackening and shriveling, breaking from his body, drifting through the cavern – and then abruptly, his body extinguishes and crumbles, falling to a pile of white ash. I'm not far, and there's no heat rising from it.

A wind – that of course I don't feel – passes over it, ruffling it, and suddenly that soft movement isn't ash, it's diaphanous purple fabric. Just as the ash takes the shape of a tall woman, lying on her back, it hardens to skin. It's a maiden, hands crossed, eyes closed in sleep. This has to be Oneiroi. I struggle to my feet, head spinning.

I'm in our car, the backseat, it's huge, and I can't find my seatbelt, and that's bad, because if I don't buckle up, Mommy might scold me again, and we talked to my teacher the other day and I've been trying to behave better all around. But the seatbelt's not there, and I'm hunting around for it in the cushions, but I'm afraid my hands will get stuck, or maybe there are rats down there and they'll bite me if they see my fingers. And the car's rocking as it takes the corners, Daddy's driving fast, my bottom's thumping on the cushions, and why are they green? Never mind about the seatbelt, I'll just watch out the window. We're coming to the bridge and that's my favorite part. And I'm almost never up this late, so I've never seen it like this before.

So I kneel on the cushions, careful of the rats, and I press my hands on the pane of the left window, and it's so dark outside, the clouds brownish from the city lights. But I can see the ocean and the way the lights ripple and fold across it, and maybe we'll go to the beach again. Daddy? Mommy? Can we go to the beach again? I promise I'll be good and I'll do my homework and I'll say I love you every night before I go to bed.

And I turn to the front of the car, to the driver and passenger seat, and my parents aren't there, only two splintered coffins, and there's a bright green light bleeding through the windshield, Aigis' gunfire, and Thanatos is roaring, because this is where – this is how we –

I can't breathe – I choke out his name rather than shout it.

The memory-dream-delusion breaks apart like a cloud, and when my eyes clear, Thanatos has beheaded Oneiroi, snarling. He has no claws, but he drags his fingers through her body, making long bloody grooves.

* * *

Akihiko reacted first, pushing himself up onto one elbow. "Ken – what?" Ken didn't answer, keeping his teeth closed on the panic, watching as Akihiko rose to one knee, looking around, taking everything in. "How did we –"

"S-senpai?" Junpei slurred, rubbing his jaw. "Did the – holy shit!"

Fuuka sat up, Koromaru whimpering. Mitsuru lifted her head, pushing aside her hair to see. Yukari rolled over and shook Shinjiro' shoulder. "Senpai!" Shinjiro shivered, and he pushed himself to hands and knees.

"Ken – ?"

"Where is this?"

"How the hell did – "

The words broke through his composure. "I don't know where they are."

"What?" Yukari asked, not incredulous, just uncomprehending, just as Shinjiro said, "Where's Mina? Did anyone see her fall?"

"What?"

"Wait, you're right – "

"Where's Aigis?"

"This isn't – "

"There's no way out of here!"

"Everyone, be quiet," Fuuka almost snapped, her eyes wide, her head tipped, listening. "Juno," she murmured under her breath.

"What is it?" Junpei asked quickly. They were all on their feet now, circling through the chamber, pressing their hands against the stone walls. "Can you see them, Fuuka?"

"No, but." She drew her Evoker and placed it to her temple. "Shadows are coming!"

The walls bubbled, beaded with ichor.

* * *

Oneiroi crumbles in Thanatos' hands, and he vanishes. I climb to my feet, watching as the ashy remains sweep and rock in the wind, coalesce, form Ker's shape, now unmistakable to me. Still only ash debris, she floats downwards through the air, arms raised. Her toes hit the ground and she breaks apart, upwards, forming three sinuous stalks. The ashes flash golden, then solidify as a tree, three women for its branches. The Hesperides.

I launch into a run – then am launched by Garudyne. Hurtling through the air, I flail my center of gravity and don't land too bad, though pain shears up my left leg. I run – land badly on that leg – keep running, swinging my blade, aiming for the tree's trunk. The wind hasn't let down, the three nymphs keening a song that I can't follow, leaves swirling, apples rattling.

My blade gouges up the bark, splinters flying and golden blood spilling out. I step back, giving myself room to strike again, and another Garudyne comes. I sidestep, nearly thrown into the air, but I keep my feet, stumble into my next lunge, piercing one Hesperis through her stomach. Her mouth stretches as she screams, tusks breaking through the lovely lips. I hit the central Hesperis on my backswing, ichor splitting along her face.

_ You should have taken your chance and gone back to the Seal._

Shaft smacking against my palm, lifting the naginata for the strike to the last Hesperis.

_Only on the Seal can you guarantee their safety. _

Not while Ker's around. The last Hesperis' head tumbles from her shoulders, my blade flecked with black and gold blood, splattered with my own across my cheeks. I fall back, a gold fountain spraying from the Hesperides' trunk. The flume narrows, softens. The trunk vanishes and the blood pales. Ker, whole again, drops lightly to the ground. She looks unhurt, still wearing her simple dress from the concert.

I slant the naginata in front of myself, waiting for her to shift into another ker. Who's left? Oizys, Philotes –

She isn't smiling, mouth bent with something that might be impatience. "Perhaps it's best to take you out with a ker no one's dealt with yet." She clasps her hands, brings them to her lips, then blows a kiss. "I call upon the Fates."


	26. Chapter 26

**26**

"Hurry up! I can't wait!" Teddie called. "Nana-chan's going to love our magic show."

"Couldn't you have thought about getting supplies earlier in the day?" Yosuke struggled to keep up with Teddie, keeping his eyes locked on the Shadow's jaunty white scarf with blue pom-poms. Yosuke's heavy boots thudded on the sidewalk, pussyfooting around potential ice patches. Junes was pretty good about keeping its sidewalk and parking lot ice-free, lawsuits being what they were, but there was no sense in taking chances. "Seriously, we told her we wouldn't be ready for another week anyway. Can't this wait until morning?"

"Magic does not wait, Hana-chan!" Teddie sang back, almost to Junes' front doors. Yosuke cursed the day the company had extended its night hours to midnight. Damn late night shoppers.

"I'm gonna make him pay," Yosuke muttered as steps came up behind him. "I don't care how big he makes his eyes and how much he wibbles, I am not paying for the magic kit, and the special wand, and the cape, and the glittery top hat."

"What about a white rabbit?' Souji asked, coming up alongside him. He was harder to make out in the night, his jacket and scarf dark.

"He's Teddie! He, like, made our glasses out of thin air. Thin, cheap, goddamn _free_ air. I don't see why he can't make a magic show the same way."

"He just wants to support your family business."

"Right, right, well, he's still paying. The only bunny I am putting money towards is one in a spangled leotard."

"Maybe I can get Rise to – " Souji broke off.

"Dude, seriously?" The night suddenly seemed so much brighter. "You think she'd really – As, as like a magician's assistant? With bunny ears? I mean, yeah, if _you _asked her – Hell yeah! Okay, now I'm looking forward to this." And he unhunched his shoulders, grinning as they made their way towards Junes' oppressively yellow interior lighting. "Hey, maybe we can get the other girls to – Souji?"

Souji had stopped walking, blinking.

* * *

I pull my blood-slimy hair out of my face. In the quiet, out of the storm of fighting, I really feel the gouges on my cheeks and neck. My eyes water when I move my mouth even slightly. "The Fates?" I repeat. Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos – together they're the ker I used as the Wild Card. "But they're not under your control."

White eyelids flash over eyes that are nearly as white. Maybe Ker's impassivity isn't quite real. "All the keres are my slaves."

* * *

"Dude, you sleepwalking?"

Souji shook himself, eyes refocusing as he looked back at Yosuke. "Yeah... "

"Brain fart?"

Souji started towards him again. "I guess."

* * *

I ask, "What about the Wild Card?"

She curls her lip, maybe the first real emotion I've seen. "Who gives a shit about the Wild Card?"

* * *

Souji stumbled. Yosuke pulled up short, trying to ignore the pinches of alarm, but he couldn't. "Hey?" He grabbed Souji's shoulder, ducked his head to try to see his face.

Souji's eyes were squeezed shut, hand splayed on his forehead.

"Yohhhhhhsuke!" Teddie sing-songed from ahead. "Sennnnnsei!"

"There's – a girl – "

"Hey, man?" Yosuke leaned closer. "You say something?"

"Sh-she's covered in blood – her eyes – I've seen her before, but there's – "

"Hey!" Teddie was holding the door, cheerful. He must have not realized Souji was nearly bent double. "C'mon! The café's still open, and we can get those warm fudge brownies!"

" – someone else – is – she's trying to take my – "

"Dude, what?" Yosuke's voice was climbing. "Is it from the TV World? Should I – "

Souji shook himself, straightened. "Nah, it's – it's cool. I'm fine." He blinked, settled his mouth into something like a smile. "Let's go."

* * *

I wait a moment, then lower my center of gravity, sidestepping around Ker. Where's an opening?

She narrows her eyes. "Really, Orpheus, do you think you're fit to fight me?"

"I don't see any Fates to fight, so it's your turn."

Red pulls back from white; she bares her teeth, just slightly, then extends her hands, palms up. I feel her voice in my bones. "Clotho. Lachesis. Atropos. Return. Lose yourselves to me."

* * *

Souji choked and caught himself against the doorframe, holding the automatic doors in stasis.

"Souji." Yosuke's voice was hard and he reached for his phone. "No arguing. You gotta sit down or something."

"Sensei, what's wrong?" Teddie ran back over, placing his hands on Souji's shoulders. His pupils contracted. "You – you feel like you're coming apart!"

* * *

I run at her. She vanishes, and I strike nothing. When I pivot, nearly falling over myself, she's back, as if she never moved.

"Just one more moment," she says, trying for a light tone, but there's a hoarseness, a strain in her voice. "You'll see the Fates again. Will you like fighting your own old Personas?"

I catch my own breath, left leg throbbing with pain. "Still don't see them."

She clenches her fists. My bones hum again, throat constricted from sheer power.

* * *

"What'd you mean he's coming apart? Souji!" Yosuke shoved Teddie aside, took Souji by the shoulders.

"It's his soul. I don't know who, but someone's trying to pull it apart!"

Shit, no way was calling an ambulance going to help. They needed to get the others, get into the TV World where they could evoke and find out who –

"C'mon, Sensei!" Teddie chirped. "Fight it!"

Souji was rasping – panting – and speaking.

Yosuke fell silent, tried to still his feverish thought in order to hear.

"Nice – " Souji gasped.

"What?"

"Nice – try."

And then Yosuke was slammed backward by a wave of pure energy.

* * *

Ker screams, high and ragged, flailing back, skull smacking into the stone. Her face is streaked red, as if someone had struck her across with a single sword blow. No idea what happened, but this is my chance.

* * *

The first thing Yosuke was aware of was Teddie squealing and hanging off Souji's neck, looking oddly like Rise. Yosuke picked himself up from the entrance to Junes, glancing around, but no one else was nearby. "What the hell? Souji! You okay?"

"I think so. Sorry, man." And he stretched out a hand to help Yosuke up. His face was still grim, but his eyes were lit and focused.

"What was that? Some girl you know? Wait, some girl you know was trying to cut up your soul?"

"No, it was another girl. I don't know her. She was all..." Souji shook his head. "She was trying to take some of my Personas."

"Wait, what?"

"She put up a good fight."

"But you put up a better one!" Teddie cheered.

"Wait, you _know_ this girl?"

"No, the girl I know was fighting the other one – I think? – And she – "

"Wait, hold on, who are these girls and _why are they screwing around with your soul_?"

"Forget it!" Souji nearly snapped. "I'll explain – later."

"Dude, no, you're going to explain right n – "

"_No_, I'm explaining later." He rubbed his hands down his forehead, and his face softened with momentary uncertainty. "That girl... I met her in a dream. Damn. I hope she's okay."

* * *

With a snarl that's first animal, then human and guttural and _male_, Ker surges from the ground and into me, flying, dragging me across the stone and throwing me into the chilly air. I crash into a wall, shoulder ablaze, but – damn – okay – it still works – and I clear my eyes and where I last saw Ker there's now a tall man in a long, ragged black jacket.

"I understand you go by a new name now." Charon pulls his pipe from his teeth, swings his bladed paddle down from his shoulder. "Sing us a song, Orpheus."

I run, but I don't try to leap. I meet his blade with my own, his clean, mine a mess of reds and golds and black. Our first strikes glance off each other, then he flips his blade under mine, stabbing through my armpit. I gasp – I can feel the steel in my muscle and blood.

"Sing louder," he says. "A body can hardly hear you!"

I swing upwards. He parries. Our blades catch against each other, held by friction, my muscles twitching. He leans in close, his lips inches from our blades, close to my clenched teeth. "What are you going to be, once you've lost Death? Truly immortal?" He spits into my mouth. "I doubt it."

I tighten my fingers and push. His eyes widen, and my blade shrieks past his, shooting up. I pull it around and into his face, slashing downward from ear to chin, then across his eyes. As he staggers back, I stab his chest with more anger than strength.

* * *

They'd formed a ring, Juno and Fuuka at its center, weapons fanned outwards.

"Is there any sign of it letting up?" Ken asked, wiping blood from his jaw.

"No. I don't even know where they're coming from." Fuuka was close to tears, watching as Shadows poured from the stone walls, coming from every side.

"This is a good chance to build up some muscle tone," Akihiko half-joked from behind his fists, sizing up one particular Shadow, though even he was panting.

"We don't need a never-ending training session." Yukari cast Mediarahan. "Seriously, they have to let up _sometime_."

Shinjiro slammed a Shadow in two with his axe, letting the blade scrape on the ground before he hauled it back up to his shoulder. "Ain't there any break?" He didn't clarify whether he meant a break in the Shadows or one in the cavern, but either would do. He glanced to his side. "Ken?"

The boy stumbled away from a Shadow's sudden swing, which Junpei just managed to parry. "Sorry, I – "

Koromaru's Agidyne blazed through the hoard of Shadows, smoke stinging their eyes. Ken coughed, almost retched. When Yukari blinked the soot from her eyes, she saw his spear was hanging slack in his hands.

"Amada!" Mitsuru shouted.

Ken shivered, then withdrew his Evoker, holding it out from himself, towards the Shadows.

Akihiko lunged in front of Ken, intercepting another attack. "Get your head together!"

Ken swallowed – though his eyes were oddly blank his voice was constricted. "It's – Kala-Nemi, she's – she's pulling away from me."

Shinjiro shouldered a Shadow aside, ramming it with the butt of his axe. Even in the rush of fighting, Mitsuru gazed lost in thought – then her eyes widened in realization. "Kala-Nemi is a ker. Is Ker trying to – "

"Dammit, no she isn't," Junpei said, Trismegisthus launching fire. "Not while I'm here."

Ken was trembling, skin flecked with sweat.

Still fighting, Shinjiro stepped back, alongside him. "All right, Ken. Remember Momos. This ain't nothing you haven't done before."

Ken's Evoker was glittering, his fingers loose, his arm shaking almost hard enough to drop it. He could see it, everything, but his mind couldn't reach through to his muscles, grasp the Evoker, pull the trigger and call on his Persona. He couldn't feel her presence in his mind, couldn't even hear the rasping of her blades. His brain felt cold and limp, buried in snow.

The Evoker jumped in his hand as a Shadow swiped at it, and he reflexively clamped his fingers around it. The sudden sharpness in his muscles shot all through him – his brain ached, like an ice burn, and now he could not even hear his friends' voices. He couldn't feel Kala-Nemi, didn't know if she was lost somewhere in his soul or had left him completely. But he did know that as long as he had his Evoker, he had a chance.

With a wrench that brought tears to his eyes, he bent his arm, tipped his Evoker back and fired.

Kala-Nemi screamed – he'd never heard that before, and he didn't know if it was with pain or fury – but she blazed out of him, lightning caging all of them, ripping through the Shadows. Something shifted in Ken's mind – he sidestepped as he nearly lost his balance – but then he felt Kala-Nemi fix herself to his soul, secure. He inhaled, coughed, blinked in the sudden quiet. The Shadows had vanished.

Akihiko clapped him on the back. "Nice one."

"Okay." Yukari lowered her bow. "Now we have to find a way to – "

Darkness rolled down the cavern walls. Their shoulders braced, weapons were lifted.

"Dammit – " Junpei growled as more Shadows surged towards them.

Koromaru ran forward into the first attack. Shinjiro glanced back to check Fuuka's position. "C'mon, Yamagishi! There's gotta be a way out!"

Fuuka was crying now, but there was no time for someone to comfort her, and hardly time for her to collect herself. "I'm trying to – " And her voice rose with fear. "There's something coming from above!"

Mitsuru glanced once at the impenetrable darkness above, then Artemisia lit the cavern with Mabufudyne. "A Shadow?"

"It's – it's Aigis!"

"What the hell?" Junpei asked, tipping his head back – and just barely managing to dodge and counterattack another Shadow.

The cavern flashed with Aigis' gunfire, and in a moment she'd landed in front of Ken, legs splayed, taking out three Shadows. "I have found you."

"Aigis – " Ken stabbed through a Shadow. "Where's Minako-san?"

Aigis didn't answer at first, crouching forward, setting herself. "I do not know," she said, and it was almost a sob.

* * *

Charon doesn't reel back – he's blown backwards, like he's nothing but his jacket, punched away by a strong wind. And the fluttering fabric loses its shape, brightens – and becomes a bundle of flame.

Philotes crashes to the ground, whipping her fiery vines, and as I rush forward, vague figures rise along them, part flame, part smoke. I check my stride, then keep running, trying not to look at them. They're in the shape of my friends. They would be.

Flames lash my face – I garble my scream and flail blindly forward with my naginata, one hand covering my face. Hair burnt, and pain stabs my left eye – it's wet and hot and I squeeze that eye shut –

Instinct makes me retreat, dodge a jet of fire, and I stumble back, fire-vines snapping around my ankles, the smoky images of my friends drawing close. I try to catch my breath, open my eyes – the left eye won't open, it just hurts, but no matter how hard I try I can't see out of it.

I cough – it's like the flame burnt my throat dry – but it's enough for me to call Thanatos. He sweeps down on Philotes, reaching right into her heart and tearing. I waver, coughing for breath. Even evocation is becoming more difficult.

Philotes' vines retreat into herself. She spreads her heart to two sides, then clasps them. And then her flames tarnish to dark blue, solidify, and she's Oizys, wrists gushing black blood, fingers spreading. As with Momos, the masks nailed to each finger pad are all of me. Masks of the Nyx Avatar lie buried in her wrists.

The naginata's sliding from my hands. I clamp down. Come on, Minako. It's not that bad.

She unfurls her fingers and I fall to one knee – it's that same crushing weight that she used before. Ken could break through. She isn't invincible. Pressing my boot soles into the stone, as if I could gouge it, make tread marks. Hands bracing on the shaft of my naginata, gloves and sleeves soaked, clammy, unrecognizable. Stand, lead with the shoulders, push with the legs. Run forward. Weight pushing on my chest, but that's okay, I can stand that, feet splashing through the ichor, can't get my breath. One eye fused shut, I can't see how far I am from her, so I lunge, catching myself on my stronger leg, stabbing the left wrist, wrenching upwards, catching the right wrist on the downstroke. Slipping, harsh pain as I fall to my knees, ichor splashing my lap and stomach.

Oizys twists away, fingers spread, palm widening, thinning, like a gel being stretched thin, growing transparent and losing all color. Oh shit. Not this one.

Apate spreads herself before me, a glassy lens with a woman's shape at its center.

I dig my hands into the ground, still splattered with black, waiting. If my friends are somehow there, on the other side (please be there), will they wait too, to see if it's me that attacks through Apate?

Only one way to know.

On my feet, wait for the world to stop rocking, try to gauge the distance, and forward. I misjudge, smacking into the lens and I want to laugh but it isn't in me anymore, I'm just tottering back, heel pressed to my ruined eye, trying to see, to think. Shrieking, I plunge my blade into her, falling forward through shattering glass.

* * *

"Don't say it's wishful thinking," Junpei shouted above the snarl of an attacking Shadow, "but I think they're letting up!"

"Don't be so sure," Akihiko growled, uppercutting a Shadow that had nearly broken through to Fuuka.

"It might – " Mitsuru cut off to run her blade to its hilt into a Shadow. "It could mean that something worse is coming."

"Keep going, guys!" Ken shouted. "We can't give up!"

Aigis sighted along her arm and fired. "Affirmative."

* * *

Down to my hands and knees, glass cutting my shins. Look up for the next ker. Apate's thousand shards sparkle, then drift down slow as snowflakes and vanish where they touch the ground. There's a flicker of white and Ker's standing there, unwounded, looking down at me, smiling. She's biting her upper lip like she's trying to suppress a laugh.

Nine keres beaten... only herself left...

"Oh hell." And she does laugh. "How are you going to fight me like that? Do you want me to trip and fall on your blade? I'll meet you halfway, Orpheus."

Run my tongue over my lips, too salty – blood, sweat, mucus, I don't care. I can't talk. I do it again and croak out, " – haven't – used Orpheus in years – "

"I refuse to call you by my own name." The laugh's out of her voice. "You have no right to it."

Swallow, voice a bit more steady. I concentrate and can feel my naginata in my hands again.

"My brother had a use for you, but he outgrew it. He has no need for a vessel now, and he would do better to help me aid Mother Nyx. He is a ker as well." A finger snap, echoing in my ears. "Come to me, Thanatos."

Thanatos' snarl rips from my own mouth.

"Third time's the charm."

Third - ? Wait, the Fates and - Kala-Nemi's still left - has she hurt Ken? When did -

"Don't be difficult."

And she does _something_, whatever she was doing before to the Fates, but I feel her in my mind, twisting, straining, pulling towards herself. I clamp down, not only on my weapon but on myself, on Thanatos, every part of my soul that he's inhabited. Clenching my eyes shut, teeth bared – and I can feel him digging in, clamping down – I can feel the small fingers of a young, blue-eyed boy's twined in my own, a voice at the foot of my bed, a signed contract in a darkened building.

Ker hisses. My eyes snap open. She backing away from me, hand thrown up before her face.

And she vanishes.

I hold my breath, waiting. It's quiet. I can see the fog slip from my teeth again, feel the blood running down my side.

She isn't dead. That's not how it works, and Thanatos and I both know it.

Gingerly, leaning heavily on my weapon, I climb to my feet, looking all around. No movement in the cavern, just the steady phosphorescence from the lichen and the distant sound of running water. I turn to the side corridor, stumble towards it. Ker said my friends are down there, and I need to –

_You can turn back and try to make sure they're okay, or you can do what you're supposed to and deal with me._

I shut my eyes, wincing. She told me that too. But I'm too weak now, I can't take her alone. And I don't even know if they're hurt or –

I'm supposed to deal with her.

Damn it.

I can't – I need to find them – to regroup.

_You can find them if you want, but you'll have to go back._

This is Ker's fight. It's her world, and it's her rules. I'm either going to destroy her on her own terms or not at all.

Numbly – but not numb, only trying to be numb – I turn from the corridor. The cavern leads into a dark stony avenue, the source of that watery sound. Using my naginata to take the weight from my left leg, I limp towards it, the ground uneven but still lit.

The river's close by. I stop on an overhanging ledge, gazing down into it, silvery black and swift-moving and far too wide for me to jump across. The light doesn't extend to the far bank.

I glance to my left and right, but can already see that the lichen scatters into darkness shortly in either direction. All in all, Ker's made this fairly clear.

It's probably freezing.

I vanish my naginata, close my remaining eye, and dive down.


	27. Chapter 27

**27**

Minako's been told not run ahead across the farm's back field to the puppy pens, so she fastens her fingers tight around her mother's and does her best to tow her, chattering all the while. She can't help it. After spending forever wearing her parents down, they've agreed to get her a puppy (as long as she feeds it, and walks it, and doesn't yank its ears, and Minako keeps insisting that she's almost twelve years old, she's too old to be yanking ears). She even managed to score a purebred Shiba puppy (because Akira-kun up the street has a Shiba, and why does he deserve one if she doesn't? He picks his nose in public).

"Keep a lid on it, Mina-chan." Mom almost stumbles in the grass, hair falling over her eyes. "And you can let go if you want. I promise I'll catch up eventually." And Minako lets go and jogs the final yards to the puppy pen. The fence is low enough for her to lean over it, so she does, pretty much making a hinge of herself to swing over the soft ears and eager tongues and batting paws.

"They're all so _cute_!" she squeals, and it's going to be impossible to choose one. They're all fluffy, all chubby, all bouncy and yappy and dying to be cuddled. And even if she does manage to find one she likes a little better than the rest, won't the others feel terrible? Who could do that to a puppy?

"They _are_ sweet," Mom admits, reaching one hand down, but not all the way, reluctant to commit to an actual tongue-licking.

"Look at that one – we match!" Minako fluffs her hair at a reddish-brown puppy. "And look at the one, half his nose is pink. And – " Mom just nods while this goes on for several minutes.

"And that one – she's so pretty!" Minako points to one puppy, hanging back, not shyly, but giving the others first chance to be adored. White as ermine with ruby red eyes, a shade Minako's never seen before on a dog. She stares back at Minako, meeting her eyes, and it's a different stare from the others. It's a knowing look, like a human's, and it makes Minako shiver, but she still wants to bury her fingers in that white fluff. "Can I see that one?" she asks the breeder.

He obliges, wading into the ankle-deep puppies, and lifts the white one. "Here she is." And checks. "Oh. Here _he_ is, miss."

A boy? That's disappointing. He shouldn't have such pretty eyes, it's misleading. Still, Minako accepts the fluffy bundle, which immediately starts washing her chin and neck, short tail thumping against her elbow. "Aw, do you like me?"

The puppy leans back to look at her again, and she sees it in his eyes. This puppy recognizes things others don't.

Minako turns quickly to her mother. "I wanna call him Koromaru."

* * *

...What?

* * *

Minako's sound asleep when the crash comes, light flaming red behind her closed eyelids. She twists out of bed – the room's shaking, her glass winged cat tumbles from its shelf and shatters on the floor. Is it an earthquake? She's felt small ones before, but never anything like this – and what's that sound, something's crashing – Mom and Dad, are they okay? Even though she's fourteen all she wants right now are her parents.

Glancing at the clock – it reads midnight. She lurches out of bed, shivering in her shorts and tank top, throws herself at her window sill, staring out of the third story apartment. She sees the courtyard below – it's usually full at the this time of night with the guys who like to hang and do drugs behind Port Island Station (_when_ are they going to move out of this place?), but she doesn't see anyone except three teenagers running away, two with their arms around a third, the third with his head covered by his hands. And – Minako blinks, not sure she's seeing it, but it's really there – a flood of broken plaster, plywood, metal piping, pulverized ceramic –

Shouting. Dad bursts into her room.

"Dad – what's – what happened, was it an earthquake?"

He hugs her, one hand behind her head. She can't remember the last time she's seen him without his glasses. "I don't know, sweetie. The block next to us, it just fell."

Minako's trying to remember who lives there, but they aren't close to their neighbors. She's seen a pretty woman with long brown hair, and a little boy once, playing in their adjoining hallway with action figures.

Mom comes in, holding that little boy, older now, around the shoulders. He hardly seems aware of what she's doing, clutching the side of her nightgown, talking quickly. Minako can't catch what he's saying because Mom talks over it. "Saburo! Amada-san's dead!"

Dad pulls around. "What? Did you go _in_ there?"

Mom ignores the fear in his voice, her face drawn, smeared with dust. "We have to call the police." She looks down at the child.

"I _saw_ him!" the boy shouts, face red, tearless. "I saw what he did!"

Biting her lower lip, Mom looks around and pushes the boy towards Minako. "Minako, take care of Ken-kun. I'm calling the other neighbors."

And as the boy tumbles forward against Minako's chest he breaks into sobs.

* * *

...Wait, how could I be living next to –

Coldness shivers up my body.

* * *

Minako throws herself down the bus steps, hurtling through the evening towards the hospital, digging through her pocket to shut her phone off. She'll be surprised if she didn't wear out its charge in the initial storm of calls she made – but he didn't answer, he was probably in the ambulance by then. Why did she have to hear this secondhand? Why couldn't Kurosawa have explained more before he hung up?

She runs into the hospital's lobby, still wearing her waitress uniform. She knows she's flushed and disheveled, because the first thing the receptionist does is tell her to sit down and catch her breath.

Minako splays her hand on the desk. "I'm here to see Officer Sanada, is he all right?"

"Calm down, miss." the receptionist says severely. "Whom do you wish to see?"

Minako swallows, and it does calm her, somehow. Things will move faster if she doesn't have a meltdown. "Akihiko Sanada. A policeman. He got caught in a crossfire." And she breaks off, twisting around so she can see the receptionist's computer screen. She notices the name first: _Sanada, Akihiko – 08/04/2018_. "That's him. Is he in an ICU or – "

The receptionist checks something. "Room 428. You should hurry, visiting hours are almost up."

Minako repeats the number as she power-walks to the elevator. Not an ICU, and she can visit him right away. So he can't be hurt that bad. Up to the fourth floor, beige carpet, white walls. She counts up the doors, legs shaking, finds 428, afraid to wrench the door open before checking through the window. Gray jacket backs – policemen standing around a narrow bed, shifting their weight. She sees Kurosawa's profile, and he's pulled his dry half smile. Minako wrenches the door open.

"Senpai?"

Two of the policemen step out of her way and she claps her hands on the bed's metal foot-rail.

Akihiko breaks into a chuckle. "You should see your face."

"Shut up!" Minako fires back. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Akihiko's lying back in a blue hospital robe with an intimidating bandage on his right arm. "It's okay. We traded fire and I got winged, that's all."

"That doesn't look like a graze."

He frowns, and his face is pale. "Everyone's overreacting."

"Don't mislead the public, son," Officer Kurosawa says coming over to Akihiko's shoulder, as if to prevent him from getting out of bed right there. "And stop trying to be a hero. A bit slower and that bullet would have hit your brain."

Akihiko grumbles and settles back in his pillows. Gulping a flare of fear, Minako reaches down and pats his foot through the blankets.

* * *

– the water – coldness blazing in my left eye, my side –

* * *

Getting out of bed is harder these days. Minako unfolds herself and stands, joints popping, then reaches around to rub her lower back. Shuffles over to the bathroom, running her fingers through her untidy tumble of gray and brown hair.

She's still nippy about getting ready in the morning. Still hasn't lost that. She leaves her one-room apartment, knocking on her neighbor's door. No answer. It's only 5:30. Impressed, Minako makes her way down to their kitchen at the back of the Shiba Smile Bakery. Fuuka's even more punctual this morning, already passing an uncooked coffee cake into the warm oven. "Morning, Minako-chan."

"Morning." Minako feels like doughnuts this morning and yesterday's surplus will still be good. "So, did you hear back from Sachi-chan?"

"No." Fuuka reaches for a saucepan and a square of baking chocolate. Must be making a glaze for the cake. "She's such a fly-by-night. I don't think she'll ever come visit."

Minako hunts through the doughnuts, wondering, as she still sometimes does, what it might have been like to be a mother. Seeing things secondhand through Fuuka leaves her doubtful she could've hacked it. She selects one of the maple-creme filled pastries. "Don't give up hope." She saunters over to their computer, checking today's schedule. "Damn, that's right. We have to fill those orders for the Koshigoe party. 30 strawberry crepes, 75 dinner rolls, 25 ciabatta buns, and enough pastry for 62 individual Crab Wellingtons."

"We'll need a good breakfast for all that," Fuuka calls over cheerfully. "I want you to try this new glaze – dark chocolate raspberry. I hope it catches on."

Minako glances over."I know it will, Fuuka-chan. But please don't dump the soy sauce in it."

Fuuka blinks, glances at the bottle in her hand, then puts it down and reaches for the raspberry liqueur instead.

* * *

My head – why can't I think?

What was I –

* * *

"Ugh. I didn't think high school would be so different. We have so much homework!"

Despite Yukari's acknowledging that, the two girls do not hurry back to their separate dorms to get to work, but instead plop down on one of the benches in front of Paulownia's fountain, Minako letting her shoulder bag thud to the tile.

"Seriously, I know," Minako says, failing to hide a yawn. "And if it's bad now, what's second year going to be like? I might not live that long."

"Hey, you know..." Yukari makes a pretense of studying her nails. Minako can see that the golden-pink coat on the right thumb's become ragged. "Um. I just wanted to thank you again. For this summer, you know."

Minako shifts her weight and tries not to be obvious about it. They've been best friends for years, but she'll never be used to seeing Yukari get emotional. "Hey, you already thanked me. "

"Yeah, but it was just really nice, spending the summer with you and your folks." She laughs. "Your Uncle Katsuro's so funny. Remember when he tried to teach me how to play guitar?" Her eyes sparkle at the memory, then her mouth flattens. "And your parents are really nice. I – wasn't looking forward to spending a month with Mom and Sasanoi-san."

Minako toys with the end of her skirt and watches the customers, moms with kids, other students still in uniform. She's known Takeba-san for years, though when they were younger, Yukari had always come over to play at her house. There's been an ever-shifting collection of boyfriends at the Takebas', but Sasanoi makes Minako uncomfortable. She isn't sure what it is, he's always very polite and attentive, but both girls have admitted to each other that they can't relax around him. They sometimes wonder if they should tell Takeba-san, but what is there to say?

Minako shakes her head. Well, it's September now and they're at the dorms. They don't have to worry about any of that until winter break, and by then he'll probably be history. "So anyway, do you want to go see the – " And she breaks off, realizing that Yukari's focused on something across the rotunda. She follows her gaze. There's an unfamiliar boy, slim and slouched, loitering in front of the arcade, dark hair falling over one eye, silver headphones at his ears. Minako sighs. She's been looking for a good pair of headphones everywhere.

Then her eyes move to Yukari, whose eyes are round, breath shallow. The brush of pink on her cheeks clinches it. "Oh. Damn. Have you finally found your type?"

"Shut up!" Yukari shouts, slewing around, cheeks blazing. "Don't be stupid, Minako!" Grabbing her purse and backpack, she strands, turned firmly away from the arcade. "C'mon, let's go check out nail polish."

Minako laughs and follows, but she glances back for another look, memorizing the boy's features – and his headphones – for future reference.

* * *

There's nothing – I'm – I'm just falling through darkness –

Coldness slashes up my stomach.

* * *

Small points of light catch Minako's eye, the low sun reflected on the bedside lamp, stippling the spiral on the notebook she left on the table, the narrow gold ring. She leans one elbow on the windowsill, hair loose on her shoulders, gazing out the window. The hotel room faces southeast, and it's the prettiest dawn she's ever seen.

There's so much to do today, so much to think about, and Minako does her best to push these thoughts gently away, at least for now. Her toes are cold and she burrows them under the blankets, then squirms them under Shinjiro's calf, surprised when it doesn't jolt him awake.

Her eyes draw away from the sky to study him, head angled back, and she wonders what she'll say when he wakes up. Even in the half light, she can make out the old bullet wound over his left ribs. There's another one, higher, on the right side of his back, and they feel like large ragged calluses. She'd like to reach across and pull his hair out of his face, but that would definitely wake him, and there'll be time to mess with his hair later.

She leans her shoulder into the window, shifting, curling her legs tighter to be more comfortable while she watches him. Let him sleep. This dawn will only come once.

He must hear the bedclothes rustling, because in a moment, he cracks one eye open, the light glimmering on it. His mouth eases into a smile.

* * *

– I was – I was trying to –

My eye burns.

* * *

Junpei starts it.

They've lived across from each other since both were age six and have co-existed peacefully. But one morning when they're eight, Junpei knocks on her front door, and when Minako opens it, Junpei's standing there with his baseball cap and his oversized Featherman shirt and one hand behind his back.

"Hi, Junpei."

"Hi, Minako." He shifts his weight from foot to foot, and there's a wide twitchy smile on his face. "Um. It's hot, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Just yesterday, Minako had tried to get away with wearing her swimsuit around the house, and Mom had said no, even though it was way more comfortable.

"So you're hot?" Junpei asks.

What a dork. "Yeah, I just said that."

"Like, really hot?"

_"Yeah."_

"Like, really _really_ hot?"

"Yes!"

"Here ya go!" he bawls and whips out a double-barreled gatling action SuperSlosher gun. In less than a second, Minako's four feet of damp orange denim shorts and drippy floral cotton. Hair plastered over her eyes and mouth hanging open. By the time she can see again, Junpei's torn away across the street, jumped up and down three times, and dashed into the safety of his own house.

Minako begs Mrs. Arisato to go to the toy store that afternoon.

Nothing happens the next day, but on the day after, Junpei's sitting cross-legged in his front yard, pitting his beloved Featherman action figures against a newly acquired set of Cretaceous dinosaurs. He's just allowed Swan to get eaten by the Psittacosaurus when he hears one of the bushes rustle. He glances up, sees nothing, and figures it's the wind. He jams Swan's head into the dino's jaws.

"Hey Junpei," a soft voice sing-songs.

Junpei looks up directly into the nozzles of a double-barreled gatling action SuperSlosheer gun freshly covered in butterfly stickers. And he gets his face washed. Minako laughs as he chases her across the street and he doesn't catch her.

The next morning, as Minako walks by the kitchen window to put her cereal bowl in the sink, she notices a stuffed kitty waving its paw at her from the other side of the screen. Frowning, she leans close to see who's holding it.

She sees just the flash of a baseball cap before the kitty's whipped away and replaced by a SuperSlosher. She doesn't dodge in time.

Later that afternoon, short on ammo and ready for another raid, Junpei runs to the spigot on the side of his house. As his back is turned, reloading, Minako cocks her arm around the corner of his house and pulls the trigger.

A steady stream of cranberry-blueberry-grape cocktail hits Junpei from the side. He drops his gun and looks down at himself. Minako bursts out of her cover and does a victory boogie around him.

"You numbskull!" Junpei shouts, face red. "My mom's gonna kill me!"

"Huh?"

"This stuff stains. And – and it's my favorite shirt!"

Minako's all set to make extra fun of him on account of that, but then she sees the tears spurting out of the corners of his eyes. She looks down at her sticky gun, then at him. "Um. Well... We can wash it."

Junpei wipes his wrist across his nose. "I don't want your help." And then: "I don't know how."

"I do. C'mon." And she reaches to take his hand, then remembers he's a boy, so she just gestures for him to follow her.

Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Arisato glances into the front yard to find her daughter and a purpley neighbor boy screaming delightedly and using their water guns to shoot liquid laundry detergent at each other.

* * *

– just – forget about all of it –

* * *

"I see you survived until the very end."

Walking out of Gekkoukan into the blinding light of late afternoon, Minako throws an arm over her eyes and heads towards the irregular shadow that's probably Mitsuru's motorbike. In a moment, her eyes have adjusted. Mitsuru leans one hip against the bike, her tall boots and tight leather jacket drawing more than a few glances. Minako falls into a jog, closing the distance between them. "I thought you were in Paris!"

"I came back early," Mitsuru says with a self-satisfied smile and cocks her eyebrows at the scroll under Minako's arm. "You should put that somewhere safe." Minako wedges her diploma into her book bag. "Congratulations."

"Thanks! Did you hear that I –"

"I certainly did. The Arai Heritage Scholarship. I'm proud of you."

"You're proud that I'm going to be wasting my time with a bunch of music students this fall?"

She laughs. "Don't let your grades slip, or you'll have me to answer to." Mitsuru swings one long leg over the bike and passes over her second helmet. "So, where do you want to celebrate?"

Minako turns the helmet over in her hands. She knows Mitsuru's been planning to treat her to dinner for weeks now.

"Go on," Mitsuru says. "Anywhere you like is fine."

"How about celebrating from the handlebars?"

Mitsuru blinks, then glances to the front of her motorcycle. "How presumptuous, Minako!"

"C'mon, I've been taking classes and you've said I'm good. _Please?_ How often do I graduate?"

Mitsuru considers a moment, eyeing Minako, then her bike, then pats one of her mirrors and slides back. "Very well then. But now I get to choose where we're eating, so we're having escargot and frog legs at _le Veau d'Or_.

Minako settles behind the handlebars and twists the ignition. "Then I better make this ride worth it and run every red light I see."

The motorcycle roars away from Gekkoukan.

* * *

But – but I was – fighting someone –

_Damn._

* * *

She doesn't recognize anything at first, hardly realizes she's looking at the clouded night sky. Why is the light so green? What is she lying on?

Minako tries to roll to her side, and she slides – she's in a nest of metal, a twisted guardrail. She's on her favorite bridge, and the asphalt is cold, damp and red. She remembers the car stopping, and Mommy and Daddy – there were just coffins where they'd been, and she'd crawled out of the car to find them, and then she'd seen a white lady and a huge dark monster. And then – then what –

"Do not move. Your leg is hurt."

Minako rolls around, tries to scoot away, but pain wrenches her leg. She blinks through her tears and meets a pair of blue eyes, bluer than the sky. Hair short and golden, like an angel's.

The white lady is kneeling in front of her, touching the bare skin of her knee. Her fingertips are cold and heavy. "It is not broken." She leans forward, staring into Minako's eyes. Minako can hear a faint whirring. "The sealing was successful. I must guard you."

"Where's Mommy and Daddy?'

The white lady's voice is neither kind nor soft. "You are the only survivor."

Survivor? What does she mean? Minako can't speak. And then she screams as the white lady reaches over and picks her up, her fingers pinching her armpits.

"Do not resist," the white lady says. "I must return with you to the labs. You must be placed under surveillance."

"No!" Minako's kicking despite her leg, but kicking the white lady only makes everything hurt worse. "Please, let me go, I hate you!" But the white lady doesn't. She presses Minako close to her cold chest, but it's not like a hug, and Minako's broken her knuckles open punching the white lady's shoulder.

They've been walking, and the white lady comes to a stop. Minako can feel she's being watched, so she snarls as big as she can. "I hate you!"

"You are crying." the white lady says. Her pupils widen, and Minako cuts off her words, because she's never seen anything like that before and it's terrifying.

"You are crying," she says again, and something's different in her voice.

Minako can't get her breath.

"We must go to the labs." The white lady doesn't release Minako, but she readjusts her grip so she isn't hauling the child by the armpits, one arm under Minako's bottom, one behind her head. Minako stares up into her face, almost too frightened to breathe, and she's far too young to read the nuances of this stranger's face.

"I promise that I will care for you," the white lady says.

* * *

I can't turn away now because –

* * *

There has been no year colder than 2010.

Minako lies back on the bench as spring sunlight washes across Gekkoukan's roof. Even now, on Graduation Day, she's still shivering, still alone. But not for long. Just a little bit longer.

Rapid footsteps, and then the heavy door to the roof bangs open. She tips her gaze over reflexively, then hauls herself to her elbows, trembling from the effort. "You're – but I – I killed you!"

Hardly losing any momentum, Ryoji drops to his knees beside the bench and throws his arms around her neck, pressing his cheek to hers. "Minako-chan!" There's no exuberance in his voice.

Weak as she is, Minako's arms find their way around his neck. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry." He pulls back slightly. "I'm sorry I have to take you so soon."

Her eyes dart. "But – my friends – we promised we'd meet here –"

He winces, something tender in it. "They can't come. They won't remember."

She's sliding, slipping back onto the bench, but he keeps his arms around her. Her fingers clutch his sleeve, but she can't pull herself back up, and she can't let go of him. "But – they have to – "

"I'm so sorry," he whispers, leaning over her. "I wish I could have helped you." His lips touch her between the eyes and leave her numb in darkness.

* * *

– no matter what, I have to –

* * *

Minako comes down to the dorm's lounge during the Dark Hour. The television is on, flickering yellow, and she can't imagine why.

A boy appears on the screen, tall, gray-haired, gray-eyed, wearing glasses. He waits until they make eye contact, then he smiles and waves.

That somehow makes sense. She waves back.

* * *

I break out of the freezing water into colder air, arms reaching forward, grabbing a stony riverbank. I haul myself free of the silvery-black water, thoughts still clouded with all those dreams. All those impossibilities the water showed me. All the things I'll never have, or never could. How? Why?

Was it Ker?

Where is she?

I shake myself, trying to clear my eyes, clear my mind. Those dreams – for those moments, they were closer than memories, as close as my own life. I could have sunk into them and never returned.


	28. Chapter 28

**28**

Okay. So I'm out of the water and whatever – that – was. Now what?

I blink. My eyes – I feel my face. My eyelids part easily and my vision's clear. No gouge marks down my face, no wound under my arm, no pain in my leg. I totter to my feet, but, freezing as I am, I don't feel tired.

Wet warmth slips down my spine.

I look over my shoulder. My back is bleeding again. I breathe steadily, slowing the sudden frantic thud of my pulse.

"You didn't forget yourself inside the river Lethe. I guess you're a little too focused."

I pivot, bloody hand slipping from my shoulder. Ker's standing about twenty feet off. She's no longer wearing her dress, her skin so pale it's almost hard to believe she's naked. Her mouth is a straight, unimpressed red line. A silver naginata gleams in her hands, the blade shaped like a lily petal.

"The water healed me. Why did you let that happen?"

"If I'm going to fight," she says (and she's a good actress, she almost does sound bored), "it better be worth my time. That's all."

Glancing across the river, I can see it isn't the same bank I saw from before. Jumping into Lethe transferred me somewhere else in the cavern. I pace away from Ker, though I don't put my back to her. "What about my friends? I'm here with you, so are they all right?"

"Depends. I guess they're getting pretty exhausted fighting Shadows by now. They could be dead."

My pacing grows uneven. "Enough of this." My naginata's blade flashes as I lift it.

"You're too gentle to hurt me," she says. "Dying in your sleep. How passive. How easy."

"Give me a chance." I set myself. She doesn't move. I lower my head and run towards her.

There's a ripping sound. Skeletal white wings unfurl from her chest – her naked heart hangs suspended in her chest, one wing trailing in front, one out from her back. There's just enough time to take this in before I swing my blade.

She parries, I shudder along my arms, then those willowy wings clench the air, wind beating me back. She lifts several yards into the air, swings her body sideways, and dives. I extend my blade forward and she doesn't swerve in time. I cut a smooth gash down her stomach and thigh. Her blood is white. She flips, wings arcing, then swings down, our blades catch, and she forces past mine, cutting into my shoulder. More blood down my back, but now it hurts.

I'm hauling my naginata around, bringing the blade down, when there's a rush of wind and she grabs me, probably about to swing me against the wall, like she did before. Twisting around, summoning every memory I have of watching Shinjiro fight, I reel back from the shoulders and headbutt her.

She shrieks and drops me. Damn.

But before I crash she catches me around the waist, all but cutting me in two. I flail, meeting her eyes, inches from mine, those faint irises and hard pupils, and then she slams me head-first into the rock wall. I thrash out with my legs, succeed in heel-punching her across the breastbone before slithering to the ground. There's a bloody clot at the back of my head and my neck's in agony, but it can be dealt with later.

"Just run back to your friends." A white smear in my eyes resolves itself into Ker, circling above me, ankles crossed. She sounds like a long-suffering older sister. "End this and go back to your Seal. Deal with me from there. You'll be stronger."

My heel slides and my head seems to swing, but I get to my feet. "And if I let you get back to your daddy Erebus, I'm sure you'll both be all the stronger. Nuh-uh. I'll deal with you while you're still a guppy."

I'm not sure what I'm getting at with the guppy thing, but it warps her mouth into a frown, so that's good. She shoots down towards me.

Ah hell. I run forward and kick up into the air.

We smack into each other and it really hurts.

But I punch my naginata through her stomach, then release it and grab _her_ weapon with one hand, her scalp with the other. She backwings erratically, bone-wings scraping the air, twisting and trying to dislodge me. I hoist one knee onto her weapon and shove with both hands. My weight drives her downward, wings flailing, and with an animal shriek she wrenches her entire body and throws me off.

Just as I hit the stone and roll, she clamps one hand on my naginata and drags it free from her stomach. Gaining altitude, she lifts it to her shoulder, sights, and heaves it at me. I roll sideways and dodge. The blade kicks up sparks where it hits. I reach to pull it free, evoking. Thanatos rushes over me and the air shakes with Megidolaon. When it clears, I hurtle into a run – and skid backwards as Ker casts her own Megidolaon, energy rocketing up my body.

And then she slams into me, crunching me back against the wall, one hand to my forehead, the other over my heart, fingers hooking in. I ram my naginata in from the side, and when she jerks back, I almost release the weapon in surprise. It's cut through her heart, bleeding through to the other side.

With one thrust of her wings, she forces us both into the air, arching her body, throwing me away from her. I somersault, tucking my legs in, and before I've even started to fall she lunges back into me, clasps me, parts her lips and bites into my right cheek, breaking through. Her teeth scrape my molars.

She snatches her head back and kicks me away from her. I hit the ground hard, cheek gaping, stabbing pain throughout my face. Ker's laughing, staccato and lovely, and my blood paints her chin and cheeks, spatters down to her chest. My naginata still flashes crosswise through her.

"What flavor, Orpheus! I've never eaten anyone who wasn't alive. This'll be fun."

I climb to my feet as Thanatos roars out. She parries his sword across her hand, not caring that it slashes her palm.

Ker giggles. "Can you go back to the Seal if I eat you all up? Maybe I can puke you back across it."

She ate my cheek. She ate part of my _face_. I'm shaking, but all I feel is fury.

Thanatos launches across her, fire fountaining around both of them. Ker curls up but emerges unscorched, still laughing. Drinking my blood's made her like a kid on a sugar high.

"Stop siccing your bitch on me! Don't you want to fight me yourself?" Even from the distance, I can see how her eyes are dancing. "Do you want this?" She joggles the haft of my naginata. White blood slicks down her stomach. "But I thought you wanted me to keep it!"

She somersaults, hair swinging joyously. "Sing to me, Orpheus! I hope I didn't take part of your tongue."

* * *

For a moment, Ken could only hear his harsh breathing, blinking fatigue from his eyes. His glance jumped around the chamber – Akihiko bent near double with exhaustion, Yukari with her hair plastered to the sweaty back of her neck, Koromaru blood-flecked and favoring one leg – but no sign of a Shadow. All that was left was the spilt blood and long smears of darkness. And a silence that felt strangely incomplete.

"Is that it? Are they gone?" Junpei panted in the sudden hush.

Fuuka sucked in her breath.

Ken's eyes swept the cavern walls, searching for more emerging Shadows. Liquid fell down the striations in long runnels. Koromaru growled.

Ken blinked, and even his weaker human senses recognized the smell: fresh blood.

"What's going on?" Yukari said, sidestepping closer to Mitsuru.

Akihiko re-cocked his fists. "Where's it coming from? Is it a Shadow?"

"It is human blood," Aigis said, running an analysis only she could follow. "Type O."

Light shimmered across Juno. Shinjiro glanced back at Fuuka.

"It's Minako's blood," she said.

* * *

I have to swallow before I speak, and I swallow my own blood. "I'm not going to grow wings for you. So if you want to fight, get down here and fight."

Ker leans back, steeples her hands and brings them to her lips as if considering. "Let me decide what I'm going to eat next." Her eyes narrow. "Okay." She swings around and dives.

I let her come, dropping to one knee. She overestimates the dive, and before she backwings, I grab my weapon, yanking it free of her. It slips in my hands, but my grip holds. Her own blade reappears, and she slams it hard across mine. I lock my knees to keep them from shaking, waiting until she breaks away.

* * *

_Someone's blood?_

Ken tried to speak to the others, tried to remember how to form the words, but his thoughts were muffled, too tightly wrapped away.

_I can't let this happen._

And the voice in his mind, the frantic, half-gasped whisper, deadening his pulse, numbing any plan for action. A girl's voice, speaking quickly, panting as she bled her life out. Far away. He knew he would always miss her. He couldn't tell what she was saying. He couldn't think of her face.

_Whatever's happening._

He felt someone – he forgot who – who were these people? - stagger against him and fall to the ground.

Blood flowed over the stone, undulating in a slight rhythm, like the blinking of heavy eyelids.

Ken faltered forward, unable to look away from the red pool lapping across the floor. Oddly soothing.

* * *

Our naginatas slide past each other and Ker falls back, the wind from her wingbeats kicking against me. I give ground, eyes on her, trying to gauge her next move.

Whispers in my ear.

I shake my head, cheek throbbing.

My friends' voices. Can't make out what they're saying, not even the emotions, just this low murmuring filling my head.

Ker laughs. "You should've gone back for them."

It hurts to talk but I can't stay quiet, can't speak softly. "You told me to deal with _you_."

A louder, looser laugh. "Orpheus does what I tell her! Awesome." She spreads her bones and feathers, catching the air in great wingfuls. "Kill me quick and maybe they won't drown in you."

I run towards her, and the voices rasp and leave my mind. Ker swoops low to meet me, blade twinkling. I raise my naginata not in a stab, not in an upswing, but in a lateral swing.

It isn't simple. Her blade runs through my stomach, my blade catches in her neck. Her eyes bulge, mouth stretching to an uneven seam.

For a moment, I don't want to do it – I can see in her eyes how much it hurts – but I wrench my shoulders and force the blade all the way through. Her head tumbles forward into my chest. I drop my weapon and stumble back, holding it, the hair softer than a baby's – then drop it, milky blood soaking my arms.

The body slumps forward, straining her naginata – and pain twists through me. Her blade, it's – it's in my stomach. My blood's so red.

I reach down, and just touching her weapon puts enough pressure on my wound to make me clench my teeth on a scream, obliterating any pain in my face. And yet I'm almost more nauseous than pained. I'd like to just curl up, press my face to the cool stone, and forget.

Closing my throat, trying to keep my gorge down, I slide the blade out of me. It comes easily, almost cleanly, my blood rolling off the silver.

"Thanatos," I whisper.

He can't help me. I press my palm over the wound, gulping for breath, trying to keep my eyes open. I need my friends.

I've killed Ker. Thanatos – have I killed her?

Her body's seeping into the stone.

Thanatos makes a soft sound in my thoughts, like a purr.

Ker is nothing but a white film. In a moment, it fades into nothing.

My friends. Keep my eyes open, Thanatos. I don't know if he can.

My naginata appears and, one hand still to my abdomen, I use it as a walking stick. Each step is painful, but I'm moving, and that's much better than standing there, watching the blood glimmer through my fingers.

The air shifts – the stone roof is lower – I'm in a corridor. The lichen grows in patches. The naginata clinks on the rocks.

My knuckles scrape against a stone wall. I blink quickly – I'm starting to black out. Not yet. Have to get back to the Seal – no, my friends – Ker's dead – what am I supposed to do – what's left – no, I need to find them.

Vanishing the blade, I lean one hand against the stone. It feels like it's humming. With Ker gone, whose world is this now?

My hand sinks into the stone, soft as dough. I blink, and when I pull my hand back, a seam appears in the wall. I lean against it. The wall gives way, and I stumble through, splashing into thigh-deep liquid.

At first, all I see is red – red streaked walls and a circular floor lost in a lake of blood. But when I step into it, the blood sprays away and doesn't undulate back. As I watch, it evaporates, leaving me in a cold, blue-lit stone chamber. I step further in, peering through the gloom.

My heartbeat jumps, painful.

Shapes lie scattered around the cavern, weapons lying inches from their fingers, heads thrown back, eyes squeezed shut. Light catches the contours of an Evoker.

I try to rush forward, but my strength gives and I tumble to my knees.


	29. Chapter 29

** 29**

I've fallen closest to Shinjiro, and I reach towards him, cupping my hand around his nose and mouth. In a moment, I feel his breath puff against my wrist, steady, even deep, as if he's only sleeping. His skin is completely dry, no bloody residue, face strained.

Swallowing, I crawl to Aigis' side, hand covering my wound. "Aigis." I'm banking on her being a machine, that she'll be harder for Ker to mess with than the others, therefore easier to recover. What was all that blood? Was it theirs? What did she do to them?

"Aigis," I say again, clumsily rolling her onto her back, her chassis clunking on the stone. "Aigis, please. It's me. Wake up." Her eyes are open, but they're blank blue panes. I touch her face, leaving bloody fingerprints, say her name, but nothing works.

I lean back, twisting my neck around to see them all. All breathing, all unresponsive.

At least we're together again.

Crawl back to Shinjiro's side, arm shaking for taking so much of my weight. Slump finally, my back to his side, pressing my ruined cheek into his sleeve. The stone's cold through my jacket, and, right now, that's all I want to feel, all I want to be aware of. I close my eyes.

Sleep won't come. I can't just slip away and return to my Seal. Not while they're lying here. I open my eyes and just stare up into the darkness. The longer I wait, the less I feel like I can move.

I can feel Shinjiro breathing, so I know the moment his breath hitches, and his fingers curl on nothing. There's the high-pitched sound of Koromaru yawning. My vision wavers.

"...my head..." Yukari half-groans. There's rustling fabric.

"Did you hear her voice too?" Ken, speaking softly. "Minako-san's. It – I couldn't think while I heard it."

"Wait, what were we – " Junpei's voice, rising and rapid. "Holy shit, what happened?"

Movement, fabric brushing against me and a dark shape looming on my periphery – then Shinjiro's hand shoots out and rolls me to my back, my vision dissolving, the cold air hitting my cheek and stomach wound. "Takeba!" he shouts.

When my vision clears, Yukari's hovering over me, fumbling for her Evoker. Junpei's further back, eyes wide. "Shit," I think I hear him say before Isis fills all my senses with light. "I can see her _teeth_ through it."

For a moment, I think the Diarahan's going to knock me cold, it's followed so quickly by another one – but I can still hear voices, Koromaru yipping, and I think Akihiko's snapping at someone – and Shinjiro's hands stay on my shoulders, and I try to focus on that, because now, the last thing I want is to slip away quietly.

"Mina-tan?" Junpei. "Hey, Mina-tan, can you see us?"

I blink, and the light fades. My fingers reflexively dig into my stomach, and I hiss with pain – there's a fresh layer of skin there, but it's tender. Cool hands on my face – blinking up, I see it's Mitsuru. "Minako – how did you get here? What happened?" I can't answer at first, and she touches the back of her fingers to my cheek and neck, as if checking for a fever. As her skin brushes mine, I can tell my right cheek's also closed up, but it's ragged, a snarl of scar tissue.

I swallow, eyes darting around their faces. They're all awake, all crowding over me. Shinjiro's leant back so the others can see, but his hand is behind my head.

"Dead."

"What?" Yukari says.

I shake my head, trying to shake my thoughts back into place. "She's dead. I killed her. She's gone."

"You sure?" Akihiko asks. He's come around to my head, so I have to look up at him upside down.

"What happened?" Mitsuru asks again. "It looks like she bit your face..."

My throat's still dry. "She did. And – " Memories of the fight flash back to me. "She said you were – what happened to you all? The room was full of blood."

There's a babble of voices, something about Shadows, and then my blood (what?) trickling down the walls and slowly flooding the room. And they'd tried to stay awake, but my voice clouded their minds, and they'd lost their strength. I close my eyes a moment, unwilling to think what Ker might have done to them if she'd killed me.

Koromaru licks my mangled cheek, and my eyes flip open. He pants down, dog-smiling.

"We should give her some room," Fuuka says, adding under her breath, "and try to figure out how to get out of here."

They back off (sort of), and I stretch an arm out to Aigis. I expect her to help me to my feet, which she does, but first she presses my palm to her own cheek. I fold upwards into a sitting position, Shinjiro supporting me from behind.

"I made a door," I say, talking over the pain jabbing from my midriff. "But I don't know how we're going to climb back up. We fell so far."

"I'm not even sure where we'd come out." Junpei's still crouched nearby. He jerks his chin to the unseen ceiling. "Think that still leads up to the stadium?"

"I think we should get out of here fast," Fuuka says, walking with Akihiko to examine the seamed wall. "This... world... feels unstable."

The floor lurches. Not like back at the stadium where the floor broke apart. This floor lurches upwards.

Shinjiro's grabbed me from behind. Fuuka and Junpei've fallen to their feet. "What's – "

The floor, no longer flooded with blood, is now covered in a blue mist, cold to the touch. In a moment, it sinks below us, hardening, covering the stone like a pane of glass.

And then it jolts upwards, taking us with it.

Shattering – roaring – Shinjiro hunches over me, one hand holding my head to his chest, and, between his fingers, I can make out the stone walls splitting, splintering. Rocks clatter down, pulverized as they hit the transparent blue film we're riding. Yukari cries out, latching onto Ken, and Fuuka grabs Koromaru, grabbed, in turn, by Junpei. Mitsuru's thrown her arms over Akihiko. Aigis still stands, crouching over me from the other side.

And then we've shot past the rocks, into freezing nothingness, still rushing upwards. Oh hell. Are we going to hit a ceiling? I press closer to Shinjiro.

We burst upwards into darkness and moonlight, water falling away around us. I scream because – I don't know, that just wasn't what I was expecting – and Yukari swears. We're still rising, stars above, scattered lights in the distance – and then we fall, crashing onto water, spray kicking up around us. The misty film bucks under us, remains in one piece, carried over shifting waves.

Akihiko coughs. "Saltwater – it's the ocean!"

"Is that Port Island?" The moonlight's strong, and I can see Mitsuru's turned towards the lights. The film doesn't stop rocking, but it eases some, and I can see just how close the lights are, probably not two miles off. I can distinctly see the whirling glare of emergency vehicles flickering through the streets. The Oonishi-Sato Stadium is ablaze with lights, partially caved in.

It's – we're out. We're in our world again. Junpei breathes an oath, as if he's just realized the same thing.

"We did it?" Yukari asked disbelievingly.

"Dude." Junpei releases a shaky laugh. "One of these years, our luck's going to run out."

Shinjiro's hand comes up to stroke my hair, shaking slightly.

"It's over." Mitsuru brings her hand to her mouth, gazing at the city. Akihiko still has an arm around her.

It's over.

I can't say it.

Junpei rises to his knees, throwing his fists in the air. "Take that Nyx! Take that Erebus! Take that you friggin Ker! You are! Never! Going to win!" Yukari laughs (embarrassedly), but Koromaru hauls back and howls.

Something pulls my eyes away. The others must not see it, the blue-white mist sweeping over the water. Thanatos notices, and he doesn't growl. There's a soft movement in my mind, like a heavy sigh. I cling to Shinjiro, heart thudding.

"Awesome, Junpei," Akihiko says, somewhat wryly. "Now how're we going to get back to shore?"

"Uh – well... you know, senpai, if you paddled us back, you'd get a spankin' cardiovascular workout."

Fuuka laughs, and even she's joyous. It's the adrenaline trickling back, making everyone giddy with relief.

The mist floats closer, casting no reflection.

"Mina," Shinjiro says. His hand is on my back now, and when he lifts it, he brings it to my face. It's slick with blood. My shoulders and back.

"Hey, Mina-tan," Junpei says, "once we're back, whaddaya say we – Mina-tan?"

"She's bleeding again," Shinjiro says, leaning slightly away from me to see my face. I can't bring myself to speak.

"But the fight is over." I feel Aigis touch my spine. "She should not be..." And then her voice trails off, and I can hear the realization.

"It's okay," I say over the tightness in my throat, the raft rocking as the others crawl close. "It's not like it's a surprise."

"No, no way." Yukari grabs my arm. "We've only just – this is too soon."

"We aren't _sure_ it's over." Junpei's talking even faster. "Ker might've pulled a fast one. You – you gotta stick around to make sure she's really gone."

I'm staring past him now, at the approaching mist, remembering Elizabeth's words to me the first time I left the Velvet Room, ready to descend to Earth to fight the keres.

"What is that?" Akihiko says, and the others turn, seeing it too.

I've twisted my fingers into the front of Shinjiro's jacket, over his heartbeat. "It's a ker. The Mist. Achlys."

Mitsuru glances at me, uncomprehending, and Akihiko braces on one knee, lifting his fists.

"She's renounced Ker. She won't fight us. Elizabeth – " I close my eyes. "She told me Achlys would come for me once my task was done."

Yukari's voice. "You didn't tell us."

I shake my head and open my eyes. "I forgot about her. I just thought..." I didn't think about this moment.

"You – " Aigis starts, and then flinches, eyes shut hard.

"What?"

Her breath shudders in her teeth. "I – wanted to say that you're here now. You're – with us, existing off of the Seal. I want you to stay." Her eyes open. "But I know you won't. It is wrong of me to be so selfish."

I reach for her, lace her fingers with mine. "I am too."

The mist has reached the edge of the raft, matching its color. An unfelt wind ruffles across it, and, because I know what to look for, I can just make out Achlys herself, thin hands over her face.

I keep my eyes on her, not the others.

Shinjiro hasn't released me, and I can feel my back bleeding into his coat. There's a small shudder across the raft before Akihiko speaks. Maybe he punched it. "This is – " He exhales. "I can't even say this isn't fair."

"Can't we stay together just a little longer?" Yukari's voice is pleading, furious, and she's speaking to Achlys, not me. I can feel Shinjiro's breath on my cheek, shallow.

"Nyx and Erebus get her for all eternity." Even Fuuka's arguing. "Can't you give us a little more time?"

All of me seems to be constricting. "Please," I whisper, and it isn't Achlys I'm pleading with.

Shinjiro's arms unlock from around me. The cold air hits me. I tighten my jaw, refusing to look at him, but it's my last chance, and I can't help it. He's still kneeling next to me, blood down his front, mouth set, staring and haggard. I turn back to Achlys, drawing my fingers free of Aigis'.

"Minako – " Now Mitsuru's imploring. "Please, wait. Just a minute."

I can't look at Achlys now, and my gaze falls to my knees. "Even... even now I can't turn back to you. I have to just keep going ahead and trusting you'll be okay." Movements jerky, I lift my hand to Shinjiro's face, touch his jaw and lips. And even if I'm not looking, I can feel his tension, and I know all the different things he wants – to call me on bullshit, to force me to stay, to grab my hand. And none of this is helping. I'm just doing it for myself. I drop my hand, use it to push off the raft and waver to my feet.

"Hey." Junpei lunges up and grabs my shoulders. "I don't care what you said. This happened before, and it's not going to happen again. I'm saying goodbye this time." He blinks, unsure or covering something up. "Goodbye, Mina-tan."

After a moment, Yukari also speaks, softly. "Bye, Minako."

Fuuka takes Yukari's hand. "Goodbye, Minako-chan."

"If – " Surprisingly steady, Akihiko gets to his feat and reaches past Junpei to touch my shoulder. "If anything happens, let us know. If you're in trouble." His lips press together. "You never know." Koromaru leans against my leg, eyes large.

Ken touches my hand. "I'm grateful I was able to help."

Mitsuru's also stood, but she doesn't come close, face hiding behind one hand. I don't trust the evenness of her voice. "Thank you, Minako."

I jerk away from Junpei, stalking into the mist – it catches hold of me, suspends me, and I'm breathing fast, eyes closed, because it's the right thing, it's what I had to do, and I've done it, it's over, it's over, it's over.

Can't help it. Or maybe I can. Either way, I look back. They're still watching me. Junpei standing, Koromaru at his feet. Akihiko and Mitsuru, her face still half hidden, Akihiko's fists hanging uselessly. Fuuka with an arm around Yukari, their backs bent, their faces lifted. Ken reaching a hand down to touch Shinjiro's shoulder, Shinjiro still kneeling, face in shadow. Aigis farthest back, metal body outlined in moonlight.

There's something I still need to tell them. But I'll never know what.

The mist kicks up the hem of my jacket, skirt ruffling, and I'm shooting away from them, their features indistinguishable. Now the raft's nothing but an ice shard on the black water, Port Island just a scattering of bright beads. The mist shoots, streams past my eyes, and in the shifting blues, I can see things – not just the world I'm leaving. Not just Achlys. And not delusions.

It's the wreckage of the stadium, Mitsuru picking her way along the edge of a ruined wall, a tight grimace on her lips. Her eyes flicker with impatience when a man with a microphone approaches. As he lurches through the debris toward her, Mitsuru's face gradually relaxes into a smile, her eyes lit with confidence. Before he even opens his mouth, she says that she is hard at work searching out the anti-Kirijo faction. And she expects great success. Then she gives him a slight wave and walks on.

It's a sunlit studio, light burnishing Aigis as Yukari fits a length of fabric around her hips. They're surrounded by dress patterns and fashion sketches, a portfolio with Yukari's name leaning against one wall. Suddenly Aigis pulls away from Yukari, taking the fabric with her as she leans over the window ledge, gazing at the sun sets on unfamiliar roofs and church steeples.

It's spring. Ken's over six feet tall, and he and Fuuka are running across a college campus, he with a slack backpack thumping against his shoulders. She's lugging a briefcase and flailing with her free hand to point out different buildings, talking excitedly.

It's winter, fat snowflakes falling outside a different studio, and Junpei is helping Chidori off with her heavy white jacket. He goes to the back of the studio to hang it up, and Chidori hastily gathers up her art supplies, hiding a sketch of Junpei wearing a suit and standing by an altar.

It's fall, leaves crackling on pavement, and Akihiko's striding hard and fast, chasing Shinjiro down an alley. Koromaru canters ahead, barking at them to hurry up, and Shinjiro's face is set in a grim smile. Akihiko gestures quickly, gold flashing on his finger, and tells Shinjiro to stop being so stubborn and just accept Mitsuru's offer and be her chef. Shinjiro says that working for Kirijo would be bad enough, but he's not going to wind up working for Akihiko too. Akihiko punches him.

It's a house I don't know, a bedroom, a young man sitting cross-legged on a low table, watching TV. He looks quickly over his shoulder as I pass, gray eyes meeting mine, and he smiles in relief.

The mist quickens, pushing me past even these, and now I can't see anything, just swirling blue strands, darkness, and stars. I lean my head back, letting it carry me.

Quickly – but gently – Achlys falls away from me, and I'm standing in darkness, hair falling back to my bare shoulders. I no longer even have the outfit Igor gave me. Pale scarred flesh twists over my stomach.

I pad across the darkness, light drawing me toward a more familiar mist, a golden haze. My own. There's a distant roaring, not Thanatos, but one I'm familiar with anyway. Erebus.

I've never seen the Seal from this angle. The barbed wires are snarled but still in place, waiting for me. I step forward and touch the golden surface, warm as my own skin.

The light shimmers and Theo appears next to me. He's paler than I've ever seen him, but I don't see any gaping wounds or deep scars. "Ah. Minako-sama."

"I'm really sorry I took so long." I want to cry, not just for him. I don't.

"It is of no matter." He takes my hand between his and bows over it. "I am glad you've returned safely."

"The Velvet Room stopped appearing." My voice is uneven, and I try to calm myself. "I couldn't – there was no way to save my friends from seeing me again. Igor didn't – he –"

Theo regards his hands clasped around mine. "My master wants what is best for you."

"He's a bastard."

"You chose this fate yourself, but that is cold comfort. I am sorry for it." He presses my hand and releases me. "You will return to the Seal now. Do you think you'll forget what you've gone through?"

"Why would you think I could?"

He smiles. "Then your friends are lucky. Their memory will live on until the end of time."

My hand jerks to my heart, unsure where to rest.

He bows again, this time from the waist. "No man may know the future, but I hope I will someday see you again. Good night, Minako." He steps past me, opens an invisible door in the darkness, and walks through, shutting it softly behind him.

I press my palm back to the Seal. My blood rushes. My edges spread, square off, solidify. Wire wraps around me. Everything fits into place.

Erebus casts himself against me, claws gouging. My surface glows, restores itself. Nyx presses against my back.

Thanatos turns over in my mind, curling up, growling softly, consciousness slipping from mine. Content.

Sweet dreams, Death.


End file.
